it wants to watch how DRM-free music affects piracy rates. If they were a business, they'd be looking for sales and profits because that's what matters.
The whole problem with the music industry is that they think in potential sales. In other words: They don't go about their world being happy for everyone they meet who owns their product - they go about their world worrying about everyone they meet who doesn't. What a way to run a business!
Normally this isn't the only factor. Most of the time it is just because they upgraded their servers to Windows 2003 and it came with it so use what came with it if it works good enough... I'll accept that. I can also accept the reason that if you are a 100% MS shop, it makes sense to run your website on MS software as well.
But still if it is a case where the manager like the ability in case where a change needs to be done and no IT Guys is found a GUI front end will give them a fighting chance for what could be a simple fix then doing it threw a text file. If your site is so important that you can't wait for an IT guy to come in, then your web site is too important for any non-admin to touch it. Instead of throwing a GUI at someone who might fix the site, but who might also break it much worse than it currently is, you either need to realize that it can wait, or you put your IT staff on call duty.
Yes, I have run sites where the life of the company did depend on the site being up and running 24/7 and every downtime could be measured in thousands of bucks.
Also IT Admins may not be specialized in being Web Administrators the website may be mostly or partially static and simple and they may not know Apache and those config files can take some time (which cost money) to get right, and if you change versions the Config Files need to be partially relearned again or if you use a different Distribution of Linux then there is a chance those config files are completely different. That's nonsense. The only time I had to re-learn anything about Apache's config that took more than 5 minutes was the switch to Apache 2. I've also not seen any differences in the config files, but maybe that's because my sub-set of distributions I've seen is limited (Debian, SuSE and Redhat). And if your admin can't deal with a simple, well-documented plain-text file, then whatever you are paying him is too much.
Though I understand lots of shops are more lax about these things. See my original post: Crappy management. If I were the CEO, I'd judge the competence of my IT chief on whether or not he lets me play around with an important server when I visit the data center. If he does, he's more interested in politics than his machines and he can take those ambitions somewhere else.
I've successfully fixed and restarted a broken Apache configuration on a Palm III going online via mobile phone and IR link (I was on the train, no other option for at least half an hour).
Try that with IIS. And no, that wasn't a minor thing, the company was losing an estimated 500 for every minute the server was down.
There are many good reasons why plain-text configuration files are still a good idea in 2007. One of them is that if you want a flashy GUI go and write one. You can. It's an open, well-documented, easy-to-implement format.
A "n00b admin" isn't going to be able to master anything in a weekend. They might figure out how to set something up & get it working but mastery is a long ways off. Which sums up the whole windos universe problem very nicely.
Yes, I know current versions of IIS don't even compare to, say IIS 4. I also know that Active Directory and all the other nice features enable you to set up a really great corporate network with some tough security.
Problem is: 99% of the windos admins and/or MCSE people don't know shit. There are exceptions. I've met some. They are a minority. Most corporate networks are run by what in other industries would equate to apprentices.
Yes, there are know-nothings in the Unix world, too. But they are weeded out faster because it's harder to cover your inabilities and in result the ratio is probaly reversed.
Installations doesn't require modifying text files.... Ok, you're not the first to write that, but I've got to reply to someone, so it's you.
Show me a shop that goes with IIS because of this and I'll show you a shop with crappy IT managers.
If you are an IT manager worth his payment, you realize that if your admins can't handle a machine on the machine level, then the first time something breaks in a way the GUI doesn't provide a flashy wizard for you will be calling in consultants that take ten times as much per hour as your in-house staff does. If you think of that as responsible management, I think you should be fired.
I really wonder how many empty sites, i.e. sites which only serve one page, or redirect to another site, or are parked, etc, etc, are among those serveys, and if Netcraft shouldn't seriously consider taking that into account?
I mean, I can easily register 1000 domains for 1000,- and put them all up on the same (Apache) server. I'm sure MS has little trouble doing the same with a couple million sites. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, they own a bunch of companies that do little than park domains.
IIS6+ deals with HTTP requests at a kernel level. That is core functionality such as responses, caching, etc are all dealt with at ring0. Performance is unbeatable. The biggest plus and biggest liability of the windos system. Running crucial non-kernel functionality at ring 0. Yes, it gives you performance. Early windos versions would've been unusable without trickery like that. At the same time, it's a security, reliability and debugging nightmare. It also makes it necessary to essentially re-write windos every few years, because you can't incrementally update all this low-level shit - it's too much to do it all at once, and it'll break in fascinating ways if you don't.
MS is - and always has been - an engineering shop. They never invented anything, and they don't do good design, either. What they're good at is the same thing the chinese are good at: Copy stuff from elsewhere and manufacture more of it cheaper. They're also really good at marketing.
What really needs to happen is these forgery-detection tools need to get in the hands of the "faithful" so they can convince themselves that they're being led by cowardly stooges. But that's exactly what happened - he released in on CD.
Oh, wait. You were talking about the arabian faithful, I guess?
Haven't they heard of these new inventions, called "paper" and "the printing press"? I hear they are even used to distribute pornography! And you can't block them on your TV or even phone line, because they can come in from under the door! Horror!
No, the only way to be really save is to implant those V-chips not into the TV and the 'puter, but into the eyes of our children. And the ears. And the fingers, because I'm sure there is braille porn.
Sure it's a form of advertisement. I didn't say it wasn't. But the reason people wear it isn't because they love advertisement (as grandparent alleged), but because they like to be associated with the image that the brand has created for itself.
Huge difference, even if the result is still people furthering the brand recognition, aka advertisement.
One is brand recognition. Yes, people love to be associated with certain brands, due to the image those brands have created for themselves. But having a brand symbol on your jacket or shirt is not the same as having a full-page advertisement printed on it.
People are grudgingly accepting the ads before the movies. What I see are people talking to each other, waiting for the movie to start, people interested in the trailers, and some ads that are at least funny. But people are clearly there for the movie, not the ads, and are happy when the ads are over.
Regular people are fed up with advertising, but they don't express it, they accept it. But open your eyes and you'll see. Walk down your street and look on the mailboxes. In my street, at least two out of every three mailboxes carry a "no advertisement, please" label.
Re:All bank vaults and locks have also been cracke
on
The DRM Scorecard
·
· Score: 1
Granted.
But it's a one-time effort and 2 minutes with Google will yield you a step-by-step instruction that even Joe Idiot can follow.
Of course there is an A. Since B is never 1, there is always an A, and in the long run you have a net profit of A*(1-B)-C.
In simple terms: If I have a 50% chance of being caught stealing $100 bills, and the punishment is $50 (plus returning the loot), then in 10 attempts I will successfully steal $500 and pay $250 in penalties => $250 profit. There's your A.
There are easily purchased lockpick kits and downloadable instructions; remember using a bic pen to pick U-locks. I would say the difference tends to be more social than anything else. No, it isn't. I happen to have some experience in picking locks. The theory is simple, and you will open your first cheap lock within a few minutes if someone shows you how. Probably longer if you only have downloaded instructions.
But it does take more practice and sometimes better tools to open the non-cheap locks. A reasonably good lock takes a few years of practice. The average door lock can probably be opened by a hobbyist, but not by someone who tried it once. Since it does take some practice, the number of people with even basic skills is still fairly small.
Clicking "decrypt DVD" on some nice GUI you downloaded, on the other hand, does not take skills nor practice. That's the difference.
Thank you, but I am already blasted non-stop by advertisement from all directions whenever I leave the door. A few years further down the road and the fact that it is ad-free will be a major point of your own home. Advertisement has become aggressive harrassment, to the point where I would not be surprised in the leasts if a study researching the topic would find a major negative impact on mental well-being.
I'd rather pay 500,- than having ads on my phone/PDA.
I hope lots of other people feel the same. I know one field-test for free phone calls if you agreed to be interupted by ads now and then was a catastrophic failure and people were leaving the test in droves.
Bullshit. Of course punishment (and a good chance of being caught) deters crime. Just not every kind of crime and every kind of criminal. But no punishment means you can do away with the laws and welcome anarchy. With no consequences, why should I follow the law?
Given that I am an advocate of (professional, large-scale) spammers being shot, but legislation of that kind not likely to appear soon, I'm willing to accept a few years of regular ass-rapes as a substitute.
If the punishment is less than the crime, than by any rational decision, you should become a criminal.
Let A be the profit of your crime. Let B be the chance to get caught. Let C be the punishment.
If A - (B*C) > 0 for all values, then committing the crime is always profitable. If A > C and B=[0...1] then A-(B*C) >0 for all values of A, B and C within these limits.
The punishment must be higher than the profit of the crime. Not vastly, but enough to make being honest a choice that is rational in the game-theory sense.
Re:All bank vaults and locks have also been cracke
on
The DRM Scorecard
·
· Score: 1
Even given the proper tools, it's a major pain in the arse for Joe Blow to decrypt CSS for example. You seriously need to run an "apt-get update". 2.1 is a little old.
Every DVD player included in any Linux distribution decrypts CSS (unlicensed, i.e. cracks it) transparently, on the fly. The only thing you as the user see of that is the commandline notice "this might take a little while".
VLC and some other players on OSX and windos do the same.
Joe Blow decrypts CSS all the time, he just doesn't notice.
The thing with locks is that yes, a couple thousand people out there know how to get into my home with a lockpick and a few minutes of time. But it doesn't scale well. As long as they remain a majority, that lock is still a reasonable investment.
DRM scales. One guy in russia breaks it. His friend from Korea writes a nice GUI crack. A guy from spain posts it on the Internet. Two days later, everyone who even cares a little has a copy. The ability to open the "lock" doesn't remain with a skilled minority.
I doubt the "better security" part, but maybe that's just because I work in that industry.
Large corporations are horrible with regards to security. It's a rare exception that they have better security. More importantly, on this level they will - if at all - have the better security for them, not for the users. Which means we will face the same virus, trojans and bot networks problem as right now, with the spam coming right out of those owned machines.
The most likely bullet point that you forgot to mention is this one:
* It won't work. There will be 500 incompatible, competing, closed protocols for everything. And players like MS will add new variations on purpose all the time, so every time the market consolidates, it'll be splintered again, except among less players.
Later sex != less sex. Just because you start a couple later doesn't mean you get less, and especially not less good. A lot of the very smart people I know have perfectly good love and sex lives - or at least as much as I can conclude from their habbits, speech and the fact that they have steady, attractive partners.
Plus in average calculations you shouldn't forget that sex at very young ages has always been a problem (yes, problem - see teenage pregnancy) of the lower classes.
Slashdot Mirror
The whole problem with the music industry is that they think in potential sales. In other words: They don't go about their world being happy for everyone they meet who owns their product - they go about their world worrying about everyone they meet who doesn't. What a way to run a business!
Yes, I have run sites where the life of the company did depend on the site being up and running 24/7 and every downtime could be measured in thousands of bucks. Also IT Admins may not be specialized in being Web Administrators the website may be mostly or partially static and simple and they may not know Apache and those config files can take some time (which cost money) to get right, and if you change versions the Config Files need to be partially relearned again or if you use a different Distribution of Linux then there is a chance those config files are completely different. That's nonsense. The only time I had to re-learn anything about Apache's config that took more than 5 minutes was the switch to Apache 2. I've also not seen any differences in the config files, but maybe that's because my sub-set of distributions I've seen is limited (Debian, SuSE and Redhat). And if your admin can't deal with a simple, well-documented plain-text file, then whatever you are paying him is too much.
Though I understand lots of shops are more lax about these things. See my original post: Crappy management. If I were the CEO, I'd judge the competence of my IT chief on whether or not he lets me play around with an important server when I visit the data center. If he does, he's more interested in politics than his machines and he can take those ambitions somewhere else.
I know the basic idea. It's not exactly an innovation. Heck, you had khttpd in Linux how many years ago?
Very useful if you really need to serve stuff out at speeds no network cards on the market can handle.
It still means every bug in it is a kernel-level bug.
Yes and no.
I've successfully fixed and restarted a broken Apache configuration on a Palm III going online via mobile phone and IR link (I was on the train, no other option for at least half an hour).
Try that with IIS. And no, that wasn't a minor thing, the company was losing an estimated 500 for every minute the server was down.
There are many good reasons why plain-text configuration files are still a good idea in 2007. One of them is that if you want a flashy GUI go and write one. You can. It's an open, well-documented, easy-to-implement format.
Yes, I know current versions of IIS don't even compare to, say IIS 4. I also know that Active Directory and all the other nice features enable you to set up a really great corporate network with some tough security.
Problem is: 99% of the windos admins and/or MCSE people don't know shit. There are exceptions. I've met some. They are a minority. Most corporate networks are run by what in other industries would equate to apprentices.
Yes, there are know-nothings in the Unix world, too. But they are weeded out faster because it's harder to cover your inabilities and in result the ratio is probaly reversed.
Show me a shop that goes with IIS because of this and I'll show you a shop with crappy IT managers.
If you are an IT manager worth his payment, you realize that if your admins can't handle a machine on the machine level, then the first time something breaks in a way the GUI doesn't provide a flashy wizard for you will be calling in consultants that take ten times as much per hour as your in-house staff does. If you think of that as responsible management, I think you should be fired.
I really wonder how many empty sites, i.e. sites which only serve one page, or redirect to another site, or are parked, etc, etc, are among those serveys, and if Netcraft shouldn't seriously consider taking that into account?
I mean, I can easily register 1000 domains for 1000,- and put them all up on the same (Apache) server. I'm sure MS has little trouble doing the same with a couple million sites. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, they own a bunch of companies that do little than park domains.
MS is - and always has been - an engineering shop. They never invented anything, and they don't do good design, either. What they're good at is the same thing the chinese are good at: Copy stuff from elsewhere and manufacture more of it cheaper. They're also really good at marketing.
Oh, wait. You were talking about the arabian faithful, I guess?
Haven't they heard of these new inventions, called "paper" and "the printing press"? I hear they are even used to distribute pornography! And you can't block them on your TV or even phone line, because they can come in from under the door! Horror!
No, the only way to be really save is to implant those V-chips not into the TV and the 'puter, but into the eyes of our children. And the ears. And the fingers, because I'm sure there is braille porn.
Sure it's a form of advertisement. I didn't say it wasn't. But the reason people wear it isn't because they love advertisement (as grandparent alleged), but because they like to be associated with the image that the brand has created for itself.
Huge difference, even if the result is still people furthering the brand recognition, aka advertisement.
Totally off-track, DogDude.
One is brand recognition. Yes, people love to be associated with certain brands, due to the image those brands have created for themselves. But having a brand symbol on your jacket or shirt is not the same as having a full-page advertisement printed on it.
People are grudgingly accepting the ads before the movies. What I see are people talking to each other, waiting for the movie to start, people interested in the trailers, and some ads that are at least funny. But people are clearly there for the movie, not the ads, and are happy when the ads are over.
Regular people are fed up with advertising, but they don't express it, they accept it. But open your eyes and you'll see. Walk down your street and look on the mailboxes. In my street, at least two out of every three mailboxes carry a "no advertisement, please" label.
Granted.
But it's a one-time effort and 2 minutes with Google will yield you a step-by-step instruction that even Joe Idiot can follow.
Of course there is an A. Since B is never 1, there is always an A, and in the long run you have a net profit of A*(1-B)-C.
In simple terms:
If I have a 50% chance of being caught stealing $100 bills, and the punishment is $50 (plus returning the loot), then in 10 attempts I will successfully steal $500 and pay $250 in penalties => $250 profit. There's your A.
Even if grandparent meant to speak about the punishment above and beyond reparation, it's still a dangerous proposition.
if C A. However, if C A than the chance of capturing a criminal has to be very high in order for the small punishment to serve as a deterent.
But it does take more practice and sometimes better tools to open the non-cheap locks. A reasonably good lock takes a few years of practice. The average door lock can probably be opened by a hobbyist, but not by someone who tried it once. Since it does take some practice, the number of people with even basic skills is still fairly small.
Clicking "decrypt DVD" on some nice GUI you downloaded, on the other hand, does not take skills nor practice. That's the difference.
What an idea.
Thank you, but I am already blasted non-stop by advertisement from all directions whenever I leave the door. A few years further down the road and the fact that it is ad-free will be a major point of your own home. Advertisement has become aggressive harrassment, to the point where I would not be surprised in the leasts if a study researching the topic would find a major negative impact on mental well-being.
I'd rather pay 500,- than having ads on my phone/PDA.
I hope lots of other people feel the same. I know one field-test for free phone calls if you agreed to be interupted by ads now and then was a catastrophic failure and people were leaving the test in droves.
Bullshit. Of course punishment (and a good chance of being caught) deters crime. Just not every kind of crime and every kind of criminal. But no punishment means you can do away with the laws and welcome anarchy. With no consequences, why should I follow the law?
Given that I am an advocate of (professional, large-scale) spammers being shot, but legislation of that kind not likely to appear soon, I'm willing to accept a few years of regular ass-rapes as a substitute.
I'm still for shooting him. Maybe afterwards.
Whatever you are smoking, can I get some?
If the punishment is less than the crime, than by any rational decision, you should become a criminal.
Let A be the profit of your crime.
Let B be the chance to get caught.
Let C be the punishment.
If A - (B*C) > 0 for all values, then committing the crime is always profitable. If A > C and B=[0...1] then A-(B*C) >0 for all values of A, B and C within these limits.
The punishment must be higher than the profit of the crime. Not vastly, but enough to make being honest a choice that is rational in the game-theory sense.
Every DVD player included in any Linux distribution decrypts CSS (unlicensed, i.e. cracks it) transparently, on the fly. The only thing you as the user see of that is the commandline notice "this might take a little while".
VLC and some other players on OSX and windos do the same.
Joe Blow decrypts CSS all the time, he just doesn't notice.
As all metaphors, this one has weaknesses.
The thing with locks is that yes, a couple thousand people out there know how to get into my home with a lockpick and a few minutes of time. But it doesn't scale well. As long as they remain a majority, that lock is still a reasonable investment.
DRM scales. One guy in russia breaks it. His friend from Korea writes a nice GUI crack. A guy from spain posts it on the Internet. Two days later, everyone who even cares a little has a copy. The ability to open the "lock" doesn't remain with a skilled minority.
I doubt the "better security" part, but maybe that's just because I work in that industry.
Large corporations are horrible with regards to security. It's a rare exception that they have better security. More importantly, on this level they will - if at all - have the better security for them, not for the users. Which means we will face the same virus, trojans and bot networks problem as right now, with the spam coming right out of those owned machines.
The most likely bullet point that you forgot to mention is this one:
* It won't work. There will be 500 incompatible, competing, closed protocols for everything. And players like MS will add new variations on purpose all the time, so every time the market consolidates, it'll be splintered again, except among less players.
Later sex != less sex. Just because you start a couple later doesn't mean you get less, and especially not less good. A lot of the very smart people I know have perfectly good love and sex lives - or at least as much as I can conclude from their habbits, speech and the fact that they have steady, attractive partners.
Plus in average calculations you shouldn't forget that sex at very young ages has always been a problem (yes, problem - see teenage pregnancy) of the lower classes.