An OS does more than run applications. With the imposition of Digital Rights Management looming on the horizon, it controls what you can do with your data. "Enhanced" communication protocols break compatability with existing standards and limit who you can communicate with. Restrictive and costly licensing agreements take money from your pocket and force you into an eternal upgrade cycle.
OS's aren't products of nature, they are manufactured products and as such embody the desires and plans of the people operating the parent company. It's obvious that in Microsoft's case the strategy is to lock users into a proprietary solution. In the short term you may be correct, in the long term the consequence of an OS extends beyond the desktop and the ability to run IE or WinAmp.
Otherwise, I agree that it's a mistake for Linux development to focus on becoming an alternative Windows.
If the goal of a Linux desktop is to provide an easy transition from Windows, it's hard to argue with IceWM. Light, extremely fast, and operationally very familiar to Microsoft users. Personally, I don't like the Windows paradigm and stick to fast and configurable managers such as Windowmaker or FVWM2. Instantaneous response on my 1.3 GHz Athlon w/ 3/4 gig of ram. Even Mozilla starts quickly!
Killing Nazis is bad for ten year olds, but killing American troops is good? The second half of Halflife centers on killing domestic troops sent to hush the experiment gone awry. Add in the mods, DOD and Firearms in particular, and it's difficult to see how Halflife is any worse than Wolfenstein in this regard.
I agree though that it's the best value for the dollar in a FPS, especially for use on older systems.
S/PDIF the output of your computer soundcard to a stand-alone DAC and you can roll your own equivalent for less than a tenth the price. SCSI included. The hardest part will be finding quiet CPU fans.
I hope you meant any analogue archival system, because until they perfect neural implants, the input and output stages of all digital reproduction chains will continue to be analogue for a long time to come.
640 kbps is around 2:1 compression. If you're satisfied with that level of size reduction, then go to one of the lossless compression algorithms. Mpeg makes no sense at that compression ratio.
That makes no sense. It's a gamble that we'll be using PC's in 30 years, much more so that Linux (or Windows or Mac) will still be around (or remembered.) Fifty years is an epoc in technology time. Think of what giving schools free DOS in 1990 would have meant in 2040.
To add to a previous post, from the RIAA's web dite:
Everything that the RIAA is active on--fostering a viable music marketplace online, preventing piracy, fighting censorship--is based on one premise: It all starts with the music and the music starts with the artist. The artist creates the music that jolts you back in your chair, whisks you across the dance floor, or freezes you in reverie. Music marks key moments in our lives. Memories of first loves, bitter battles, and sweet triumphs are all brought back by that favorite song. You "own" that anthem now, but it started with the artist. They all create different music, yet with the same passion to connect. Different path, same goal. When the connection is made?look out.
Music moves us. Music unites us. Not many art forms are as expansive, evocative, poignant, or powerful. That?s why, around the globe, the artist is embraced, honored, banned and sometimes feared. Nothing communicates like music does.
To do his or her best, the artist needs a supportive environment. That is a goal of RIAA. RIAA fights to preserve freedom of speech, copyright protection, and a positive environment in which to create and distribute music -- on and off the Internet.
The RIAA may in fact only represent entertainment corporations, but that's not the way the represent themselves to lawmakers and the general public.
Possibly, but never forget that "any publicity is good publicity" is a cliche and has such contains only a grain of truth. Publicity about XP's new licensing terms hasn't been good for Microsoft, nor has news of every new exploit. If I worked for IBM, I'd consider using Valentine's memo in sales pitches to non-techie types as validation that Linux is a serious contender to W2K and not just a hacker's or script kiddie's toy.
However, when you get down to it, it is about money. They don't really give a shit about Linux itself. They don't have feelings for it. Don't forget that. It is about the money.
I don't know if you meant this in a derogatory manner, but it's probably the best news Linux fans could ask for. If coldly selfish, purely business types are turning to Linux it has a very bright future indeed.
Poor, oppressed populations have high birthrates. 30 million dead in an artificial famine. The Cultural revolution. Massive environmental damage. Forced prison labor. Selling organs of prisoners executed by the state. Tianemmen Square. And your argument was?
The implicit assumption in your reasoning is that employers have every right not specifically curtailed by law while employees have only those allowed. You're basically saying they can do anything they want and an employee's only recourse is to quit. Pure bullshit contradicted by a century's worth of civil right legislation. Whenever I read this kind of comment I get images of eight year olds in coal mines and losing arms in mills. I suppose to you "they could always quit." When did we become so retrograde as a society?
Employers are people no different than you with the same sets of rights and restrictions. Organizing in into a business doesn't automatically confer on them governmental power at the threat of loss of livelihood.
Beta VCRs and tapes cost more to produce mostly because Sony refused to license the tech. Fewer manufacturers mean less competition and less opportunity for economy of scale. Ask Polaroid.
How soon we forget. This was already attempted (is it still in place?) by the last administration. Banks were required by law to notify federal authorities of any unusually large deposits to your account as part of the war on drugs.
You're right: you are screwed. Citizens are no longer to be protected, they're to be watched. You've traded protectors for keepers.
"Everyone always screams the Benjamin Franklin quote that "anyone who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserves neither" doesn't realize that Ben didn't live in the friggin 21st century.
True, but we're no different as a people than those who gave Franklin cause to make that statement. It's a plain fact that it didn't require nuclear weapons to kill the hundreds of millions lost to wars, dictatorships and genocides over the last century, just government power. So yes, I'd say powerful governments pose a greater treat to the general well-being than an envelope of anthrax or a home-made nuclear device.
You touch on the core of the problem. The fault lies not in your elected representatives but in your society. They are you - your neighbours, co-workers and family members - brought up to think in purely utilitarian terms, taught by popular culture to disregard the philosophies of your country's founders as irrelevant and hypocritical, and driven by moral arrogance born of sixties youth culture. No one belives in "the system" anymore except as inconvient rules of the game, the sooner they can be changed the better. So it's no surprise that the judiciary wing no longer stands guard over the legislative. Idealism has become naive.
Not act as a cynical opportunistic bastard and put the benefit of the nation first? Oh, you wrote CEO, no citizen.
Re:Legal recourse?
on
Bert Is Evil
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I know someone who used to play Counter-Strike as 'USAma Bin Laden' and always was terrorist.
I was the only Bin Laden for the longest time on Firearms servers, but dropped the name after the attacks to avoid the friction. Ironically, I was quickly replaced with dozens of Bin Ladens or variants of the name.
Thanks, it may be difficult to grasp that I think fine and still don't agree with you. I endorse capitalism and consider most of the rhetoric on/. to be... shortsighted. What does this have to do with selling off the protocols to the most important information technology of the next 100 years to IBM and MS, two companies at one time accused of being predatory monopolies?
To paraphrase your argument, let's give the automotive companies control of safety standards, or perhaps the drug companies can determine testing procedures. Unless you haven't noticed, car sales are down and factory workers need to eat too. If the Japanese and Europeans don't like the new standards, they can propose different ones. Competition is good, no?
Boo hoo hoo, we're taking the food from the mouths of Bill Gates' children by oppossing an open and free transport protocol be subverted for his personal gain. I'm torn up inside, really.
Loan sharks need to feed their children and put roofs over their heads, as do pimps, pushers and thieves. That's not the argument, it's how they do it that matters. It wasn't a group of developers proposing this, it was a gaggle of IP lawyers acting on behalf of corporate stockholders, but I guess they need roofs over their heads too.
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OS's aren't products of nature, they are manufactured products and as such embody the desires and plans of the people operating the parent company. It's obvious that in Microsoft's case the strategy is to lock users into a proprietary solution. In the short term you may be correct, in the long term the consequence of an OS extends beyond the desktop and the ability to run IE or WinAmp.
Otherwise, I agree that it's a mistake for Linux development to focus on becoming an alternative Windows.
If the goal of a Linux desktop is to provide an easy transition from Windows, it's hard to argue with IceWM. Light, extremely fast, and operationally very familiar to Microsoft users. Personally, I don't like the Windows paradigm and stick to fast and configurable managers such as Windowmaker or FVWM2. Instantaneous response on my 1.3 GHz Athlon w/ 3/4 gig of ram. Even Mozilla starts quickly!
I agree though that it's the best value for the dollar in a FPS, especially for use on older systems.
S/PDIF the output of your computer soundcard to a stand-alone DAC and you can roll your own equivalent for less than a tenth the price. SCSI included. The hardest part will be finding quiet CPU fans.
I hope you meant any analogue archival system, because until they perfect neural implants, the input and output stages of all digital reproduction chains will continue to be analogue for a long time to come.
640 kbps is around 2:1 compression. If you're satisfied with that level of size reduction, then go to one of the lossless compression algorithms. Mpeg makes no sense at that compression ratio.
damn, and I just finished installing my new Ge3 Ti200!
That makes no sense. It's a gamble that we'll be using PC's in 30 years, much more so that Linux (or Windows or Mac) will still be around (or remembered.) Fifty years is an epoc in technology time. Think of what giving schools free DOS in 1990 would have meant in 2040.
Everything that the RIAA is active on--fostering a viable music marketplace online, preventing piracy, fighting censorship--is based on one premise: It all starts with the music and the music starts with the artist. The artist creates the music that jolts you back in your chair, whisks you across the dance floor, or freezes you in reverie. Music marks key moments in our lives. Memories of first loves, bitter battles, and sweet triumphs are all brought back by that favorite song. You "own" that anthem now, but it started with the artist. They all create different music, yet with the same passion to connect. Different path, same goal. When the connection is made?look out.
Music moves us. Music unites us. Not many art forms are as expansive, evocative, poignant, or powerful. That?s why, around the globe, the artist is embraced, honored, banned and sometimes feared. Nothing communicates like music does.
To do his or her best, the artist needs a supportive environment. That is a goal of RIAA. RIAA fights to preserve freedom of speech, copyright protection, and a positive environment in which to create and distribute music -- on and off the Internet.
The RIAA may in fact only represent entertainment corporations, but that's not the way the represent themselves to lawmakers and the general public.
Hillary Rosen would appear to disagree. All her public talks on Napster, etc., centre on protecting the artists, not the record companies.
Possibly, but never forget that "any publicity is good publicity" is a cliche and has such contains only a grain of truth. Publicity about XP's new licensing terms hasn't been good for Microsoft, nor has news of every new exploit. If I worked for IBM, I'd consider using Valentine's memo in sales pitches to non-techie types as validation that Linux is a serious contender to W2K and not just a hacker's or script kiddie's toy.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes Windows so much easier to use than Linux.
I don't know if you meant this in a derogatory manner, but it's probably the best news Linux fans could ask for. If coldly selfish, purely business types are turning to Linux it has a very bright future indeed.
Poor, oppressed populations have high birthrates. 30 million dead in an artificial famine. The Cultural revolution. Massive environmental damage. Forced prison labor. Selling organs of prisoners executed by the state. Tianemmen Square. And your argument was?
Employers are people no different than you with the same sets of rights and restrictions. Organizing in into a business doesn't automatically confer on them governmental power at the threat of loss of livelihood.
Beta VCRs and tapes cost more to produce mostly because Sony refused to license the tech. Fewer manufacturers mean less competition and less opportunity for economy of scale. Ask Polaroid.
As good a reason for an IP ban as has ever been seen here.
It's the wave of the future, pun intended.
How soon we forget. This was already attempted (is it still in place?) by the last administration. Banks were required by law to notify federal authorities of any unusually large deposits to your account as part of the war on drugs.
You're right: you are screwed. Citizens are no longer to be protected, they're to be watched. You've traded protectors for keepers.
True, but we're no different as a people than those who gave Franklin cause to make that statement. It's a plain fact that it didn't require nuclear weapons to kill the hundreds of millions lost to wars, dictatorships and genocides over the last century, just government power. So yes, I'd say powerful governments pose a greater treat to the general well-being than an envelope of anthrax or a home-made nuclear device.
You touch on the core of the problem. The fault lies not in your elected representatives but in your society. They are you - your neighbours, co-workers and family members - brought up to think in purely utilitarian terms, taught by popular culture to disregard the philosophies of your country's founders as irrelevant and hypocritical, and driven by moral arrogance born of sixties youth culture. No one belives in "the system" anymore except as inconvient rules of the game, the sooner they can be changed the better. So it's no surprise that the judiciary wing no longer stands guard over the legislative. Idealism has become naive.
Not act as a cynical opportunistic bastard and put the benefit of the nation first? Oh, you wrote CEO, no citizen.
I was the only Bin Laden for the longest time on Firearms servers, but dropped the name after the attacks to avoid the friction. Ironically, I was quickly replaced with dozens of Bin Ladens or variants of the name.
To paraphrase your argument, let's give the automotive companies control of safety standards, or perhaps the drug companies can determine testing procedures. Unless you haven't noticed, car sales are down and factory workers need to eat too. If the Japanese and Europeans don't like the new standards, they can propose different ones. Competition is good, no?
Loan sharks need to feed their children and put roofs over their heads, as do pimps, pushers and thieves. That's not the argument, it's how they do it that matters. It wasn't a group of developers proposing this, it was a gaggle of IP lawyers acting on behalf of corporate stockholders, but I guess they need roofs over their heads too.