Why would anybody bother coming up with new ideas if anybody else could just copy them the next day?
Sigh. That's what copyright is for. Copyright stands for 'copying rights'. There's an entire legal infrastructure for this already in place.
Software patents are a monopoly over an idea, not an 'invention'. Copyright protects an author's real work, the actual legal article, an actual implementation. If we accept patenting software and business methods why then shouldn't we allow for the patenting of musical motifs, musical structures, literary devices or plot structures? What's the difference really?
Innovation is simply too risky for anyone without a $200 cigar in their mouth, especially when it costs around $250k just to begin defending it in court. Don't tell me patents encourage innovation: they scare the living shit out of the little guys. There's your 'competition'.
Hmm, I don't know about that. Linux uptake on the desktop is very high here in Germany.
Admittedly I work in education, a particular user group in itself but nonetheless one with some influence. Linux, in the educational sector in Germany, has become extremely fashionable in recent years; in the context of both regional development and in support of local innovation Linux is seen to be the new kid on the block but a major innovator nonetheless. Apple products however are seen to underscore the kind of lack-of-mobility/lock-in that schools are increasingly trying to get away from, especially when they need to justify IT expenditure.
Without doubt Apple has mindshare, but it is mindshare in an increasingly rarified demographic. Linux uptake in education in Germany is very strong: especially in public schools that are trying to show how they are 'Thinking Different' in the context of budget rationalistion. Linux has a lot of clout here in Germany. From EU antitrist trials against Microsoft to the Munich migration, things are changing and Linux is clearly getting the most attention. Reliance on American products is also a major concern, hence the local interest in German Linux products and services.
OS X - while a great product - is increasingly seen to be going in the wrong direction entirely: a luxury good that has little relevance when you need to show that you're increasing the longevity of existing hardware and creating local jobs in a slumping economy. I believe this is very much the same sentiment in both France and Spain.
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 1
Oops, seems I wrote before I read. Above should say: "Existing package lists are 'patched' when updated". Not the software itself - which is I guess what you're talking about.
This kind of diffing would have to done with source distributions of software I think..
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 1
Doesn't Linux have ways of copying only those bits of the file that actually changed?
Debian has this this now, it's fantastic. Existing installs of software are 'patched' when updated.
Also beginning with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0, the package management system has been improved regarding security and efficiency. Secure APT allows the verification of the integrity of packages downloaded from a mirror. Updated package indices won't be downloaded in their entirety, but instead patched with smaller files containing only differences from earlier versions.
Who cares where they meet? Would it be worthy news if they met in #ossnasa on irc.freenode.net? What on Earth is it about Second Life that makes it such a supposed revolution in human communication? Anyone would think telepathy had been commodified. Flirting and real estate? Enough, sheesh.
"This is the world in 30 years' time envisaged by a Ministry of Defence team responsible for FUD mongering to the ends of securing their jobs for those same 30 years."
1/ They are more memorable if they cause some pain at first.
2/ They are less likely to breach someone else's trademark.
Do you really think 'Flickr', 'Adobe' and 'Google' are any better? Consider that you might have simply become used to these stupid names. 'Flickr' is so unintuitive to type people actually had to think about the name a lot at first.
I distinctly remember people laughing at "Google" when they started to make headlines quipping "With a name like that they better have a good PR department." People mistyped it continuously "google", "giggle", "googgle" etc. As it arose the name itself did half the PR work for them: being an invented word gave them the liberty of people using it in ways guarded english words wouldn't be used, hence the emergence of the verb "to google". Furthermore, people had become intimate with the brand by learning a new word.
Thankfully the GAIM folk didn't call it "Pigeon" or something sensible like that. Worth mentioning that 'pidgin' is an actual word, perhaps aptly describing the kind of English language heavy IM users come to speak over time..
Living with OS X is closer to a living in a well furnished hotel than a home - pushing a general grand unified field theory of what consititutes 'useability' over user customisation. You can't grow into OS X - in the sense of making yourself at home - so much become good at using it as it is found.
So yes, of course it does have the ""shortest "initial setup time"".
Around 3 years with Debian on my current machine. I wouldn't have it any other way. I change, my needs change and so my machine must with it.
How long does it take to tweak the house you own? Putting up some bookshelves on the weekend 10 years after you bought it wouldn't be abnormal, why should it be with your personal computer?
The Macbook (and around 70% of all other portables) is made by Taiwanese company Quanta Computing along with your iPod. Apple products are about as American-made as Grass Jelly.
I was talking about my own needs in an OS to be productive, not making assumptions about anyone elses.
I wouldn't be so hasty to throw X11 to the lions, there are a few of us that find OS X's UI sluggish and frustrating - the Finder in particular (why does my software need to be 'found' all the time?). Why do I need to constantly lift my mouse to the top of the screen to access per-application menus when my mouse is already above a given applications focused window? Some poeple find such things intuitive, but there are those that don't. Given the choice of OS X or your "primitive X11" I'd far rather take the latter.
I see a lot of people working with Linux (many for the first time) and what always strikes me as positive is just how many of the class will immediately start tweaking their desktop environment - once they realise it's possible. Within a few hours they've yielded it to the way they think, the way they like to work. Some of the outcomes completely blow away grand-unified field theories abour useability: bizarre concoctions, yet those same students express how they've always felt such configurability was missing in OS X or Windows.
Others however find the very fact this flexibility exists disconcerting somehow, as though the possibility for such variation undermines their willingness to learning the new platform. They feel more confident learning to work productively and efficiently in the environment as it is given, with few if any adjustments (some don't even touch the background image). Thankfully X11 can satisfy those that greatly value - or feel they need- such flexibility (quirks and baggage aside) and closed-source and less configurable interfaces - like those used in OS X or Windows - can provide for those that would rather just trust that the interface designer knows what they are doing.
.
To recap - and in light of supposed credibility - you might try to read with subjectivity in mind next time. It'll do wonders for your karma.
With the exception of my graphics card driver. All the software I use, and have used for many years, is free software. Moreso, I live between several computers, some of which are not my own. Assuming OS X actually becomes as performant as Linux in 3D realtime applications and other areas, call me and reccommend OS X over Linux when:
1. I can upgrade all this software with the click of a button, without having to go to websites, trust $RANDOMSITEOWNER, download their update.
2. Check the version of any package, and find out which file belongs to which package.
3. Run my OS of choice on any computer I need to, from LiveCD or from disk.
4. Upgrade my entire OS without having to pay for it. (I don't want to rent my OS).
5. When Fink and Darwin ports have even half the software of Debian (or any Debian derivative) and when they _actually work_. Linux hasn't had dependency hell for years. Why Fink and DarwinPorts do I don't know.
Ideological shenanegans aside, these are really practical deal-breakers for me. OS X simply isn't an option. I use OS X fairly regularly (work) and am quite familiar with it. It simply presents no compelling features over Linux for the free software user - in fact it's light years behind.
That's a fairly obscure situation, and so can hardly be used for generalising the state of Ubuntu's useability overall. Nonetheless, the issue itself is an important one (especially the lacking sudo instruction). Now that you've witnessed it you'd do well to register a bug report.. better still, teach your friend how to do it and why it's important.
Problems like these don't wilt and die on their own. They have to be noticed, you have to point the torch at such things and tell other people to come and have a look. Think of all the annoyances in Windows or OS X that go on unnattended year on year. Linux presents a rare opportunity to actually do something about these things simply by letting the people that really want to hear about it, know about it.
Few people seem to realise that registering bugs is crucial to the development of this operating system. More so, registering bugs isn't about 'giving' your time so much as saving time in future: a rational fullfilment of pure self-interest that happens to benefit many others simultaneously.
While the business logic of patents applied to pharmaceuticals makes sense on the surface, the secondary effects of this model is that those of low income, especially those in 'developing countries' can't afford the medicine they need and nor can they legally make a 'cheaper copy': the real cost of this IP is human health.
While a right to patentability is a vital part of the current (broken IMO) business model surrounding pharmaceutical development, the long term reality is that monopolies on drug designs pose great risk to the health of millions - ie those customers considered 'out of the market'.
You bought that iMac with an operating system preinstalled, an OS made for that hardware specifically. If you want the same experience with a Linux distribution, and don't want to "jump through hoops", buy a machine with Linux preinstalled, from a company like System 76 for instance. I hear people are very happy with their products and services.
There are mirrors of this in Spain. The outspoken 'Neocons' see no disparity between Free Software, Free Market Capitalism and personal liberty and really, what is the contradiction? In fact the most aggressive amongst them seem to be pro BSD users. If you look closely at it there's a fair bit of compatible rhetoric between iron-fisted Libertarianism and the FSF..
Then of course there's ESR, he's about as gun-toting redneck as it gets. Free Software, there's plenty for everyone, from nuclear subs to anti-vivisection NGO's to schools in India.
Are we seeing any evidence of Apple machines actually making an inroad here, even coming up in migration feasibility studies? I've seen nothing of the kind in Europe, yet magazines, blogs and newspapers seem to often tout various migrations to Linux, sometimes for the purposes of case-study.
The reality is Linux is already being adopted in the enterprise, at least in Europe. Linux increases the longevity of the existing hardware installation and provides cost incentives where upgrading is concerned. Learning curves will always be an issue switching to a new OS, but for most purposes it's new applications that are being learnt, not the OS itself: one advantage of Apple in this area is that a variety of MS tools already run on the platform whereas they don't on Linux. A poor example, but I've personally seen students and teachers familiar with Windows really struggle with OS X and also a GNOME desktop whereas they're at home in a KDE environment within a few hours. I think the author has little hands-on experience in this case.
Whatever is said, if you want evidence of Linux in the enterprise look at the employment boards: the demand for Linux admins with experience in SLED or RHEL (even so specific as citing KDE and Gnome environments) is truly on the rise.
I have a fresh Ubuntu install in front of me. The default page in Firefox is a "Welcome to Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft!". I click on the link "Official Ubuntu documentation website". Which brings me to a short manual introducing Ubuntu and Linux in general.
The first page under 'Linux Basics' gives you all the information you need.
I work often on OS X and find the lack of a package management system a gaping hole in my experience of the platform.
I find having to go to websites to find and download software frustrating and tedius. Fink and Darwin Ports work on and off, but they have less than a third of what Ubuntu or Debian offer and are plagued by dependency problems.
While a little sluggish, OS X systems are great when they're brand new. However, when they start to grow stale - and you have to fork out just to upgrade the OS and upgrade software on the machine piece by piece - you start to hanker for the sanity and freedom that is apt-get.
A good overview of the Linux filesystem for the layman.
AFAIK FF on Ubuntu will automatically download all files to the 'Desktop', which can be reached at any time by clicking the Desktop icon at the bottom left-most corner of your screen or found in the file-browser, Nautilus.
The US patent office is, for all extents and purposes, a free enterprise one that decidedly wants to nuture a market for patents and increase patentability across all areas, including absurd contexts like ideas (software, musical forms, literature forms). A software patent isn't a monopoly on a design, it's a monopoly on an idea, you don't even need to implement the 'invention' in the US patent system; Legal shops are incrasingly responsible for software patents, they probably don't even need a programmer on the team.
Dudas himself directly benefits from high volumes of patent applications. He runs a business. The less popular patenting gets the poorer he gets. Asking his opinion on the matter of reform is ridiculous.
As I said above, I think it's only because of this partnering with Microsoft. Canonical already offers the option of paid support and now, certification. How long can a rationale of partnering with Novell or RH on that basis really hold anymore? Other vendors like this one are actually proving that going with the most popular distribution makes economic sense. Who's choosing SUSE for their
Perhaps the real motivation for going with SUSE is that they don't actually want Linux on Dell to work, at least too well.
Slashdot Mirror
Software patents are a monopoly over an idea, not an 'invention'. Copyright protects an author's real work, the actual legal article, an actual implementation. If we accept patenting software and business methods why then shouldn't we allow for the patenting of musical motifs, musical structures, literary devices or plot structures? What's the difference really?
Innovation is simply too risky for anyone without a $200 cigar in their mouth, especially when it costs around $250k just to begin defending it in court. Don't tell me patents encourage innovation: they scare the living shit out of the little guys. There's your 'competition'.
Wireless support on Linux is great if you simply do a little research and don't pick a card that doesn't work. You can't take a Linux unfriendly wireless adapter to water and make it drink, so don't waste your time.
Wireless works out-of-the-box (or soon after) - with a recent distribution of Linux - on most laptops these days.
Hmm, I don't know about that. Linux uptake on the desktop is very high here in Germany.
Admittedly I work in education, a particular user group in itself but nonetheless one with some influence. Linux, in the educational sector in Germany, has become extremely fashionable in recent years; in the context of both regional development and in support of local innovation Linux is seen to be the new kid on the block but a major innovator nonetheless. Apple products however are seen to underscore the kind of lack-of-mobility/lock-in that schools are increasingly trying to get away from, especially when they need to justify IT expenditure.
Without doubt Apple has mindshare, but it is mindshare in an increasingly rarified demographic. Linux uptake in education in Germany is very strong: especially in public schools that are trying to show how they are 'Thinking Different' in the context of budget rationalistion. Linux has a lot of clout here in Germany. From EU antitrist trials against Microsoft to the Munich migration, things are changing and Linux is clearly getting the most attention. Reliance on American products is also a major concern, hence the local interest in German Linux products and services.
OS X - while a great product - is increasingly seen to be going in the wrong direction entirely: a luxury good that has little relevance when you need to show that you're increasing the longevity of existing hardware and creating local jobs in a slumping economy. I believe this is very much the same sentiment in both France and Spain.
Oops, seems I wrote before I read. Above should say: "Existing package lists are 'patched' when updated". Not the software itself - which is I guess what you're talking about.
This kind of diffing would have to done with source distributions of software I think..
From here:
Who cares where they meet? Would it be worthy news if they met in #ossnasa on irc.freenode.net? What on Earth is it about Second Life that makes it such a supposed revolution in human communication? Anyone would think telepathy had been commodified. Flirting and real estate? Enough, sheesh.
"This is the world in 30 years' time envisaged by a Ministry of Defence team responsible for FUD mongering to the ends of securing their jobs for those same 30 years."
Reccommended reading.
1/ They are more memorable if they cause some pain at first.
2/ They are less likely to breach someone else's trademark.
Do you really think 'Flickr', 'Adobe' and 'Google' are any better? Consider that you might have simply become used to these stupid names. 'Flickr' is so unintuitive to type people actually had to think about the name a lot at first.
I distinctly remember people laughing at "Google" when they started to make headlines quipping "With a name like that they better have a good PR department." People mistyped it continuously "google", "giggle", "googgle" etc. As it arose the name itself did half the PR work for them: being an invented word gave them the liberty of people using it in ways guarded english words wouldn't be used, hence the emergence of the verb "to google". Furthermore, people had become intimate with the brand by learning a new word.
Thankfully the GAIM folk didn't call it "Pigeon" or something sensible like that. Worth mentioning that 'pidgin' is an actual word, perhaps aptly describing the kind of English language heavy IM users come to speak over time..
Yes, probably.
Living with OS X is closer to a living in a well furnished hotel than a home - pushing a general grand unified field theory of what consititutes 'useability' over user customisation. You can't grow into OS X - in the sense of making yourself at home - so much become good at using it as it is found.
So yes, of course it does have the ""shortest "initial setup time"".
Around 3 years with Debian on my current machine. I wouldn't have it any other way. I change, my needs change and so my machine must with it.
How long does it take to tweak the house you own? Putting up some bookshelves on the weekend 10 years after you bought it wouldn't be abnormal, why should it be with your personal computer?
The Macbook (and around 70% of all other portables) is made by Taiwanese company Quanta Computing along with your iPod. Apple products are about as American-made as Grass Jelly.
Hi Scott,
I was talking about my own needs in an OS to be productive, not making assumptions about anyone elses.
I wouldn't be so hasty to throw X11 to the lions, there are a few of us that find OS X's UI sluggish and frustrating - the Finder in particular (why does my software need to be 'found' all the time?). Why do I need to constantly lift my mouse to the top of the screen to access per-application menus when my mouse is already above a given applications focused window? Some poeple find such things intuitive, but there are those that don't. Given the choice of OS X or your "primitive X11" I'd far rather take the latter.
I see a lot of people working with Linux (many for the first time) and what always strikes me as positive is just how many of the class will immediately start tweaking their desktop environment - once they realise it's possible. Within a few hours they've yielded it to the way they think, the way they like to work. Some of the outcomes completely blow away grand-unified field theories abour useability: bizarre concoctions, yet those same students express how they've always felt such configurability was missing in OS X or Windows.
Others however find the very fact this flexibility exists disconcerting somehow, as though the possibility for such variation undermines their willingness to learning the new platform. They feel more confident learning to work productively and efficiently in the environment as it is given, with few if any adjustments (some don't even touch the background image). Thankfully X11 can satisfy those that greatly value - or feel they need- such flexibility (quirks and baggage aside) and closed-source and less configurable interfaces - like those used in OS X or Windows - can provide for those that would rather just trust that the interface designer knows what they are doing.
. To recap - and in light of supposed credibility - you might try to read with subjectivity in mind next time. It'll do wonders for your karma.
Cheers.
Oh.. not forgetting the non-free video codecs of course ;)
1. I can upgrade all this software with the click of a button, without having to go to websites, trust $RANDOMSITEOWNER, download their update.
2. Check the version of any package, and find out which file belongs to which package.
3. Run my OS of choice on any computer I need to, from LiveCD or from disk.
4. Upgrade my entire OS without having to pay for it. (I don't want to rent my OS).
5. When Fink and Darwin ports have even half the software of Debian (or any Debian derivative) and when they _actually work_. Linux hasn't had dependency hell for years. Why Fink and DarwinPorts do I don't know. Ideological shenanegans aside, these are really practical deal-breakers for me. OS X simply isn't an option. I use OS X fairly regularly (work) and am quite familiar with it. It simply presents no compelling features over Linux for the free software user - in fact it's light years behind.
That's a fairly obscure situation, and so can hardly be used for generalising the state of Ubuntu's useability overall. Nonetheless, the issue itself is an important one (especially the lacking sudo instruction). Now that you've witnessed it you'd do well to register a bug report.. better still, teach your friend how to do it and why it's important.
Problems like these don't wilt and die on their own. They have to be noticed, you have to point the torch at such things and tell other people to come and have a look. Think of all the annoyances in Windows or OS X that go on unnattended year on year. Linux presents a rare opportunity to actually do something about these things simply by letting the people that really want to hear about it, know about it.
Few people seem to realise that registering bugs is crucial to the development of this operating system. More so, registering bugs isn't about 'giving' your time so much as saving time in future: a rational fullfilment of pure self-interest that happens to benefit many others simultaneously.
While the business logic of patents applied to pharmaceuticals makes sense on the surface, the secondary effects of this model is that those of low income, especially those in 'developing countries' can't afford the medicine they need and nor can they legally make a 'cheaper copy': the real cost of this IP is human health.
While a right to patentability is a vital part of the current (broken IMO) business model surrounding pharmaceutical development, the long term reality is that monopolies on drug designs pose great risk to the health of millions - ie those customers considered 'out of the market'.
You bought that iMac with an operating system preinstalled, an OS made for that hardware specifically. If you want the same experience with a Linux distribution, and don't want to "jump through hoops", buy a machine with Linux preinstalled, from a company like System 76 for instance. I hear people are very happy with their products and services.
HTH
There are mirrors of this in Spain. The outspoken 'Neocons' see no disparity between Free Software, Free Market Capitalism and personal liberty and really, what is the contradiction? In fact the most aggressive amongst them seem to be pro BSD users. If you look closely at it there's a fair bit of compatible rhetoric between iron-fisted Libertarianism and the FSF..
Then of course there's ESR, he's about as gun-toting redneck as it gets. Free Software, there's plenty for everyone, from nuclear subs to anti-vivisection NGO's to schools in India.
Are we seeing any evidence of Apple machines actually making an inroad here, even coming up in migration feasibility studies? I've seen nothing of the kind in Europe, yet magazines, blogs and newspapers seem to often tout various migrations to Linux, sometimes for the purposes of case-study.
The reality is Linux is already being adopted in the enterprise, at least in Europe. Linux increases the longevity of the existing hardware installation and provides cost incentives where upgrading is concerned. Learning curves will always be an issue switching to a new OS, but for most purposes it's new applications that are being learnt, not the OS itself: one advantage of Apple in this area is that a variety of MS tools already run on the platform whereas they don't on Linux. A poor example, but I've personally seen students and teachers familiar with Windows really struggle with OS X and also a GNOME desktop whereas they're at home in a KDE environment within a few hours. I think the author has little hands-on experience in this case.
Whatever is said, if you want evidence of Linux in the enterprise look at the employment boards: the demand for Linux admins with experience in SLED or RHEL (even so specific as citing KDE and Gnome environments) is truly on the rise.
I have a fresh Ubuntu install in front of me. The default page in Firefox is a "Welcome to Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft!". I click on the link "Official Ubuntu documentation website". Which brings me to a short manual introducing Ubuntu and Linux in general.
The first page under 'Linux Basics' gives you all the information you need.
I work often on OS X and find the lack of a package management system a gaping hole in my experience of the platform.
I find having to go to websites to find and download software frustrating and tedius. Fink and Darwin Ports work on and off, but they have less than a third of what Ubuntu or Debian offer and are plagued by dependency problems.
While a little sluggish, OS X systems are great when they're brand new. However, when they start to grow stale - and you have to fork out just to upgrade the OS and upgrade software on the machine piece by piece - you start to hanker for the sanity and freedom that is apt-get.
Try:
man hier
A good overview of the Linux filesystem for the layman.
AFAIK FF on Ubuntu will automatically download all files to the 'Desktop', which can be reached at any time by clicking the Desktop icon at the bottom left-most corner of your screen or found in the file-browser, Nautilus.
The US patent office is, for all extents and purposes, a free enterprise one that decidedly wants to nuture a market for patents and increase patentability across all areas, including absurd contexts like ideas (software, musical forms, literature forms). A software patent isn't a monopoly on a design, it's a monopoly on an idea, you don't even need to implement the 'invention' in the US patent system; Legal shops are incrasingly responsible for software patents, they probably don't even need a programmer on the team.
Dudas himself directly benefits from high volumes of patent applications. He runs a business. The less popular patenting gets the poorer he gets. Asking his opinion on the matter of reform is ridiculous.
As I said above, I think it's only because of this partnering with Microsoft. Canonical already offers the option of paid support and now, certification. How long can a rationale of partnering with Novell or RH on that basis really hold anymore? Other vendors like this one are actually proving that going with the most popular distribution makes economic sense. Who's choosing SUSE for their Perhaps the real motivation for going with SUSE is that they don't actually want Linux on Dell to work, at least too well.