There is a difference between theory and practice; the theory is clearly to strengthen Free Software. In practice, lead developers haven't got much time to devote to helping people who sometimes could have painlessly taught themselves the solution to their problems.
It seems pretty disingenuous to call GNU and the FSF insular - they have exponentially grown in their significance and users since the early nineties.
As far as cults, basically every group of any importance does seem like a cult to outsiders - to me Christianity seems like a cult.
Why? How is the Mac community leading the way on this front? This is only swallowable if you happen to hang out on some Mac site for too long. Are you perhaps insinuating that the Mac community don't suffer from trolls or bad manners because they are, altogether a better class of user, (largely because Macs and Mac software are more expensive than Windows or Linux)?
If so, sounds pretty elitist to me.
Personally, I think there are great communities to be found on most OSs, but they take a while to find.
In theory, this could work with CCTV cameras, at least in the UK. IIRC if you request footage they filmed of you they not only have to provide it but also blur out everyone else in the footage to protect their identity.
The UK has the most CCTV cameras per head of the population in the world. It would be pretty cool if Britons co-ordinated this kind of peaceful revolt, but I think there's a catch that you have to pay for the tapes or a surcharge.
But even if everyone in the UK did this, I wouldn't be surprised if Nu 'Labour' just changed the laws with an overnight amendment rushed through under some obscure backdoor in one of the behemoth-like Terrorism Acts.
Q. Why isn't Linux a drop in replacement of Windows? A. Linux doesn't want to be a drop in replacement of Windows.
Linux desktops already do all those things you mention, but don't expect them to be able to support all proprietary undisclosed/patented data formats and hardware.
If you think Linux software lacks a 'basic way in rendering graphics' it's probably because OpenGL, Cairo and countless non-3D libraries don't spend much money on promoting themselves.
Software for Linux is not lacking in capability.
Maybe if you want software with a 'good commercial look' then perhaps you should use good commercial software.
What is a driver? don'tcha mean kernel module you stinking n00b?!! Get back to your idiot Windows and BSOD inducing 'drivers' and never speak ill of our ilk again. There. I believe this proves I am considerably more l33t than thou.
The surface temperature of the sea which hurricanes such as Katrina passed over has gone up by 0.5 degrees C. There is conclusive evidence that surface sea temperature is directly proportional to energy in the weather systems. It makes sense that if there is extreme weather due anyway (due to the chaotic global weather patterns, hence somewhat unpredictable) then it will undoubtedly be made worse by higher surface temperatures in the sea.
It'd be much more substantial if you bet that average sea surface temperatures in the region will actually go down over the next decade.
If your idea of a common API for GNOME and KDE consists of just an API for GNOME, then nothing, I guess.
Anyway this is about free desktops, which AFAIK means we can assume we actually have a Unix-like system underneath, which should make things easier.
Besides it'd be nice to have a fresh API that uses established newer language features and doesn't need to support tons of ancient non-standard compilers.
The portland API is hardly going to replace either of the desktops' APIs. Even if they do leave out all the components that aren't mirrored in each, they can still get all the common functional components which are certainly there. Not all apps need all the widgets in KDE and GNOME.
You're talking about style, increased usability and integration; but you forget that if people want to use apps from both desktops you sacrifice those anyway. The LSB is making progress on solving those problems, and has already influenced the desktop groups.
Other cross-platform projects such as wxWidgets are successful, which has been used by AOL and NASA. Anything which makes it easier for developers to choose to allow users to pick whichever UI backend they prefer has got to be worth trying. That's greater user freedom.
the firstboot program runs the first time X is started... X couldn't start. anyone who can fix X manually probably already knows how to set up a user account.
Windows understandably has the luxury of nvidia writing and testing windows display drivers. But fair enough, use windows then if you feel like it.
Even if justice worked perfectly, some people would still commit crimes, even intentional crimes. You still could not assume you could trust everybody.
And how can we have a perfect system of justice without the system unjustly violating things like privacy etc.
I agree that there is much more that unites humanity than divides, but seriously, what does that have to do with web browsers?!
IE was integrated because the same kind of display used to show files and directories could be used to display web content, and it made sense to integrate the same technology in order to save on system resources.
If there was a lot of shared functionality, that's precisely what DLLs are for. Now I'm no Windows expert but I'm pretty sure Windows 95 had DLLs.
Apart from that, reusing a file manager window for a web browsing window might save windowing memory (assuming the web content was simple otherwise this would probably dwarf the file explorer), but in that case, why not have reusable windows for all windows programs?
"OSS and ALSA Compatible Soundcards Support"
on
Ekiga 2.0 Released
·
· Score: 1
You're right, making software easy to use might be easy enough if you have a good devoted UI designer who can make changes in a flexible way without breaking stuff or needing to reorganise the way various libraries of functions relate to each other.
But when you have a big, ugly codebase that you inherited, making, testing and verifying changes is difficult. Especially when you have only a few fulltime developers for a whole suite of applications.
It's going to take time; they are putting a lot of work into improving the codebase so that it's better for coders joining the project - if/when they manage to do this openoffice users will see a faster rate of improvements.
I often read "it can't be that hard" comments - don't you think if it was that useful and that easy to fix it would've been done by now?
As another post pointed out, CTRL-L works. But a quicker way is to just type / (in an open file dialog). You can use tab completion to fill in the autocomplete.
mp3 support is only an issue for distros who want to distribute say in the USA legally - yes the fluendo thing fixes that for the USA, but not in an open source way (IIRC you can't compile your own mp3 codec, even with Fluendo's source and distribute the resulting binary plugin legally).
Just to point out that this isn't really a GNOME issue - gstreamer hasn't been relicensed recently or anything.
My GNOME browser has a File menu too; whilst arguably a web page is a file, IMO it would make more sense to the user to have a Page menu instead - Page->Open, Save, Print, View Source etc.
In fact everything seems to have a File menu, even my Terminal. I guess stuff like a Quit menu item should go in a Program or App menu.
For a group like GNOME, with their Human Interface Guidelines I'd have thought they would sort out the menus sensibly and intuitively, not design them for refugees of other UIs.
But anyway, 2.14 seems like they've focussed on good goals like improving performance, and even added a feature to Metacity, window edge resistance! Rejoice!
There are still many times when C/C++ is the best choice, sometimes the only high-level choice for some chips.
Your summary of the languages is frankly ridiculous. You forgot to mention what your reasoning might similarly condemn hand written assembly code as being even more insecure than C, what with JMP #memory_addr, despite _still_ being used with almost every piece of electronics you can buy. You can write bad, insecure code in any language.
If you use a decent toolkit instead of the standard C libraries and you have reasonable time to debug and know how to use the languages properly (e.g. use assert) then you can write stable efficient software which will still run on machines 10 years old with = 64Mb RAM (why should basic computer users upgrade their hardware when they only do email, word processing, web browsing?). A worthwhile tradeoff?
In C++ you can have stuff like array bounds checking with the STL or with a toolkit compiled in debug mode.
Also, you might not like seeing a segfault message but with 'safer' languages you might get no message, even though the program had done something wrong.
With a decent OS, i.e. not running everything with full privileges, application buffer overruns aren't of themselves that bad without bad software design; with system services they typically need/want the extra efficiency that C/C++ can provide.
The point is a decent syntax and well chosen idioms should mean that a programmer can write an algorithm clearly and concisely - the hello world example is a little too trivial - if you compare non-trivial algorithms (e.g. sorting, etc) written in Java with other modern languages like ruby, python, D, the syntax is more elegant and readable in terms of understanding the code (assuming knowledge of each language).
Obviously it's horses for courses but if it's harder to read and more tedious to write then programming becomes arduous.
The EU didn't ask for the main Windows APIs to be opened up, they just asked for some of the networking protocols to be documented for interoperability with other operating systems; even if MS had/have done this properly it wouldn't help duplicate the Windows OS itself much.
MS just won't license enough of the source liberally enough to a company or group that wants to duplicate it independently. The only way this might happen is if in many years from now MS are forced to use an open source business model.
OT: Linux acceptance is already good. The desktop market has and will continue to gradually move away from MS.
Makes me sleep better, on the other hand, to see that there are music lovers even there. You know how the saying goes: Where one sings you may sit down and sing along, bad people have no song.;)
It's most interesting for what software they'll add in future. The addition of Firefox is quite promising - after all they could've put in Opera or other 'secure' front-ends for IE.
This is pretty useful to suggest to windows users with fastish internet connections - it updates most of the software. Could be the beginning of a proper package management system for windows.
What surprises me is that OpenOffice.org is not included in the Google Pack
I think the AbiWord WP would fit the 'Essential' requirement - it's fairly small (~13MB last time I checked) and GPL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiword
Does much of the common MS Word stuff - mail merge, equation editing, grammar checking, etc. Also has support for OpenDocument.
Yeah, I'm gonna DRM the fuck out of the sounds in Vista - Man! Wait 'til all those prog rock hippies shell out $199 then find they can't hear them until they nuke all their mp3s, purge their open source software and subscribe to Urge... those pirate communists ain't getting a listening license 'til my clandestine WinFS scans their hard disks.
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There is a difference between theory and practice; the theory is clearly to strengthen Free Software. In practice, lead developers haven't got much time to devote to helping people who sometimes could have painlessly taught themselves the solution to their problems.
It seems pretty disingenuous to call GNU and the FSF insular - they have exponentially grown in their significance and users since the early nineties.
As far as cults, basically every group of any importance does seem like a cult to outsiders - to me Christianity seems like a cult.
Why? How is the Mac community leading the way on this front? This is only swallowable if you happen to hang out on some Mac site for too long. Are you perhaps insinuating that the Mac community don't suffer from trolls or bad manners because they are, altogether a better class of user, (largely because Macs and Mac software are more expensive than Windows or Linux)?
If so, sounds pretty elitist to me.
Personally, I think there are great communities to be found on most OSs, but they take a while to find.
AFAIK, in Canadadian democracy, Seals and Trees don't get to vote. Just the Canadian people, IIRC.
(Anymore abbreviations I can squeeze in? Oh yeah, IANAC. Heh.)
In theory, this could work with CCTV cameras, at least in the UK. IIRC if you request footage they filmed of you they not only have to provide it but also blur out everyone else in the footage to protect their identity.
The UK has the most CCTV cameras per head of the population in the world. It would be pretty cool if Britons co-ordinated this kind of peaceful revolt, but I think there's a catch that you have to pay for the tapes or a surcharge.
But even if everyone in the UK did this, I wouldn't be surprised if Nu 'Labour' just changed the laws with an overnight amendment rushed through under some obscure backdoor in one of the behemoth-like Terrorism Acts.
Q. Why isn't Linux a drop in replacement of Windows?
A. Linux doesn't want to be a drop in replacement of Windows.
Linux desktops already do all those things you mention, but don't expect them to be able to support all proprietary undisclosed/patented data formats and hardware.
If you think Linux software lacks a 'basic way in rendering graphics' it's probably because OpenGL, Cairo and countless non-3D libraries don't spend much money on promoting themselves.
Software for Linux is not lacking in capability.
Maybe if you want software with a 'good commercial look' then perhaps you should use good commercial software.
What is a driver? don'tcha mean kernel module you stinking n00b?!! Get back to your idiot Windows and BSOD inducing 'drivers' and never speak ill of our ilk again. There. I believe this proves I am considerably more l33t than thou.
:P
The surface temperature of the sea which hurricanes such as Katrina passed over has gone up by 0.5 degrees C. There is conclusive evidence that surface sea temperature is directly proportional to energy in the weather systems. It makes sense that if there is extreme weather due anyway (due to the chaotic global weather patterns, hence somewhat unpredictable) then it will undoubtedly be made worse by higher surface temperatures in the sea.
It'd be much more substantial if you bet that average sea surface temperatures in the region will actually go down over the next decade.
If your idea of a common API for GNOME and KDE consists of just an API for GNOME, then nothing, I guess.
Anyway this is about free desktops, which AFAIK means we can assume we actually have a Unix-like system underneath, which should make things easier.
Besides it'd be nice to have a fresh API that uses established newer language features and doesn't need to support tons of ancient non-standard compilers.
The portland API is hardly going to replace either of the desktops' APIs. Even if they do leave out all the components that aren't mirrored in each, they can still get all the common functional components which are certainly there. Not all apps need all the widgets in KDE and GNOME.
You're talking about style, increased usability and integration; but you forget that if people want to use apps from both desktops you sacrifice those anyway. The LSB is making progress on solving those problems, and has already influenced the desktop groups.
Other cross-platform projects such as wxWidgets are successful, which has been used by AOL and NASA. Anything which makes it easier for developers to choose to allow users to pick whichever UI backend they prefer has got to be worth trying. That's greater user freedom.
yum in FC3 is bloody slow. but I always read that since the sqlite based yum hit fc4 it got faster... have yet to try it myself.
that was probably due to the nvidia troubles.
the firstboot program runs the first time X is started... X couldn't start. anyone who can fix X manually probably already knows how to set up a user account.
Windows understandably has the luxury of nvidia writing and testing windows display drivers. But fair enough, use windows then if you feel like it.
Even if justice worked perfectly, some people would still commit crimes, even intentional crimes. You still could not assume you could trust everybody.
And how can we have a perfect system of justice without the system unjustly violating things like privacy etc.
I agree that there is much more that unites humanity than divides, but seriously, what does that have to do with web browsers?!
If there was a lot of shared functionality, that's precisely what DLLs are for. Now I'm no Windows expert but I'm pretty sure Windows 95 had DLLs.
Apart from that, reusing a file manager window for a web browsing window might save windowing memory (assuming the web content was simple otherwise this would probably dwarf the file explorer), but in that case, why not have reusable windows for all windows programs?
On the 2.0 features page:
http://ekiga.org/index.php?rub=2
under General Features it says it has "OSS and ALSA Compatible Soundcards Support".
Maybe 2.0 still doesn't work for you, but maybe it works for other OSS soundcards.
You're right, making software easy to use might be easy enough if you have a good devoted UI designer who can make changes in a flexible way without breaking stuff or needing to reorganise the way various libraries of functions relate to each other.
But when you have a big, ugly codebase that you inherited, making, testing and verifying changes is difficult. Especially when you have only a few fulltime developers for a whole suite of applications.
It's going to take time; they are putting a lot of work into improving the codebase so that it's better for coders joining the project - if/when they manage to do this openoffice users will see a faster rate of improvements.
I often read "it can't be that hard" comments - don't you think if it was that useful and that easy to fix it would've been done by now?
As another post pointed out, CTRL-L works.
But a quicker way is to just type / (in an open file dialog). You can use tab completion to fill in the autocomplete.
mp3 support is only an issue for distros who want to distribute say in the USA legally - yes the fluendo thing fixes that for the USA, but not in an open source way (IIRC you can't compile your own mp3 codec, even with Fluendo's source and distribute the resulting binary plugin legally).
Just to point out that this isn't really a GNOME issue - gstreamer hasn't been relicensed recently or anything.
My GNOME browser has a File menu too; whilst arguably a web page is a file, IMO it would make more sense to the user to have a Page menu instead - Page->Open, Save, Print, View Source etc.
e nus.html#the-file-menu
In fact everything seems to have a File menu, even my Terminal. I guess stuff like a Quit menu item should go in a Program or App menu.
For a group like GNOME, with their Human Interface Guidelines I'd have thought they would sort out the menus sensibly and intuitively, not design them for refugees of other UIs.
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/1.0/m
But anyway, 2.14 seems like they've focussed on good goals like improving performance, and even added a feature to Metacity, window edge resistance! Rejoice!
You can use C/C++ to do anything you like.
There are still many times when C/C++ is the best choice, sometimes the only high-level choice for some chips.
Your summary of the languages is frankly ridiculous. You forgot to mention what your reasoning might similarly condemn hand written assembly code as being even more insecure than C, what with JMP #memory_addr, despite _still_ being used with almost every piece of electronics you can buy. You can write bad, insecure code in any language.
If you use a decent toolkit instead of the standard C libraries and you have reasonable time to debug and know how to use the languages properly (e.g. use assert) then you can write stable efficient software which will still run on machines 10 years old with = 64Mb RAM (why should basic computer users upgrade their hardware when they only do email, word processing, web browsing?). A worthwhile tradeoff?
In C++ you can have stuff like array bounds checking with the STL or with a toolkit compiled in debug mode.
Also, you might not like seeing a segfault message but with 'safer' languages you might get no message, even though the program had done something wrong.
With a decent OS, i.e. not running everything with full privileges, application buffer overruns aren't of themselves that bad without bad software design; with system services they typically need/want the extra efficiency that C/C++ can provide.
The point is a decent syntax and well chosen idioms should mean that a programmer can write an algorithm clearly and concisely - the hello world example is a little too trivial - if you compare non-trivial algorithms (e.g. sorting, etc) written in Java with other modern languages like ruby, python, D, the syntax is more elegant and readable in terms of understanding the code (assuming knowledge of each language).
Obviously it's horses for courses but if it's harder to read and more tedious to write then programming becomes arduous.
The EU didn't ask for the main Windows APIs to be opened up, they just asked for some of the networking protocols to be documented for interoperability with other operating systems; even if MS had/have done this properly it wouldn't help duplicate the Windows OS itself much.
MS just won't license enough of the source liberally enough to a company or group that wants to duplicate it independently. The only way this might happen is if in many years from now MS are forced to use an open source business model.
OT: Linux acceptance is already good. The desktop market has and will continue to gradually move away from MS.
Makes me sleep better, on the other hand, to see that there are music lovers even there. ;)
y +video+%22elvis+presley%22&btnG=Search&meta=
You know how the saying goes: Where one sings you may sit down and sing along, bad people have no song.
What? Like Aegis Defence Services security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians whilst listening to Elvis Presley?
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=iraq+troph
And none free/libre?
Firefox was last time I checked.
It's most interesting for what software they'll add in future. The addition of Firefox is quite promising - after all they could've put in Opera or other 'secure' front-ends for IE.
This is pretty useful to suggest to windows users with fastish internet connections - it updates most of the software. Could be the beginning of a proper package management system for windows.
What surprises me is that OpenOffice.org is not included in the Google Pack
I think the AbiWord WP would fit the 'Essential' requirement - it's fairly small (~13MB last time I checked) and GPL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiword
Does much of the common MS Word stuff - mail merge, equation editing, grammar checking, etc. Also has support for OpenDocument.
Are the sound files protected by DRM?
Yeah, I'm gonna DRM the fuck out of the sounds in Vista - Man! Wait 'til all those prog rock hippies shell out $199 then find they can't hear them until they nuke all their mp3s, purge their open source software and subscribe to Urge... those pirate communists ain't getting a listening license 'til my clandestine WinFS scans their hard disks.
Bill