The normal case is that you want to take a GPLed program, and change one line, or a hundred, but most of the program is the GPLed original. It's 99% theirs, not 99% yours.
I would disagree. As a developer I'm most interested in using other peoples' code to add functionality to an existing project, not modifying their project. Why reinvent the wheel for a new feature? Granted, I'm using someone elses code and it's reasonable to use it on their terms. However, the GPL strikes me as being software gratis (free as in beer) masquerading as software libre(free as in speech).
I don't have any objection to the GPL, but it seems strange to call it 'free' (libre) software given that you can't freely mingle it with your own code.
...we didn't want to GPL all million lines of ours. No problem - we ran GPG as a separate executable, invoking it with a system() call and checking the return code
This is one of my big problems with the GPL. Why have a draconian license which will stop your code being mingled with respectful but non-GPL projects when any disrespectful group can sidestep the terms of the license? What programmer would say that there's a meaningful (philosophical) difference between linking a library and calling the same library from a system call? And yet one is allowed and the other is not? As a morally upstanding programmer I would feel that I was violating that spirit of the GPL by calling the library which is functionally equivalent to linking it (not that I blame you, and I'm sure everyone would agree that it's a fair use. And yet it makes me uneasy...).
If an unscrupulous person from $EVIL_CORPORATION wants to use GPLed code, why don't they just write a small wrapper to segregate the GPLed code from their own using system calls like you did?
Once again I'd like to say that I support the GPL and the spirit of collaboration that it fosters, but being noble and community spirited is not the same as being free (libre), and I wish people wouldn't call it that. If you want your code to be free, release it under the BSD license (or similar).
One can only hope that Heinlein's story outline consisted of a jumble of new ideas and concepts which he was trying to string together into a cohesive plot. It cerainly seems plausible; Heinlein strikes me as the kind of writer who would decide on a theme for each chapter and figure out how to make his characters expound the theme later.
While I generally agree with you, it's worth mentioning that even though the practical applications of GAs tend to be limited to tweaking parameters there's no reason they couldn't generate a calendar application given appropriate scope and execution time. Imagine a GA which constructs a bit string of arbitrary length, can mutate by randomly flipping bits occasionally and can increase/decrease in size as another mutation. Given the evaluation function "Does this program organize my day?" the GA will eventually produce Microsoft Outlook (and maybe a good calendar application if you keep running it).
The problem is that this is going to take as long as other 'million monkeys' problems.
So in summary, technically a GA can develop any solution which is implementable on a computer but human effort is usually required to find a problem domain which can be attacked in practical time, i.e. tweaking a design which is already almost complete.
Telling them "sorry, you can't use that" doesn't deter ANY behavior -- it doesn't keep the government from invading your computer AGAIN, because they didn't do it in the first place.
Well, it would mean that people wouldn't want to hack your computer looking for evidence since any evidence would be useless. It would also deter the government from inciting hackers to hack your computer, which would be a very real danger if the evidence was admissable. Like how governments supposedly trade each other for surveillance information they can't legally obtain from their own citizens.
The primary mode of gameplay in Settlers of Catan is to acquire and trade resource cards, and use them to build your settlement. Canonically, the resources are lumber, wool, grain, bricks and ore but are often referred to by more common names such as trees, sheep and wheat.
"Wood for sheep" would probably be an offer to give sheep cards in exchange for wood cards (although from the wording it could be either way) - something which has almost NO chance of success in the early game where sheep are almost entirely useless and wood is very valuable, and yet seems likely to be a frequent utterance from random clueless noobs on Xbox Live. Oh they joy of voice chat;)
Reference please? The claim that native Australians travelled to South America is completely contrary to my understanding of anthropology. Native Australians weren't seafarers, and didn't even travel to Tasmania after seeding a population there. In fact... is that what you're talking about? Your story about "The small tribe discovered on an island off the southern tip of south america" sounds just like Tasmania if you substitute Australia in.
Now, assuming that you're not so thick you got your continents mixed up, perhaps you really mean Polynesians not Australians? The Polynesians were great seafarers, and plausibly visited South America from whence they got their sweet potatos. But once again, I've never heard any evidence of a Polynesian settlement in South America despite the fact that such a settlement would be anthropoligically very exciting. So once again, where's your reference smart guy?
On the topic of the fertility clinics that are providing the stem cells, do women actually volunteer for abortions, or do they have to be forced by others?
Holy shit what the fuck are you talking about? The idiocy has reached new and incredible heights!
What the hell are you talking about? Are you some kind of uneducated retard? I can't believe you think that! I pity you for being so out of touch with the world that you can even make a statement like that...
You should have said "The idiocy has sunk to new and incredible depths!"
Strongly recommended before submitting a resume... I can just picture where this could go: "Seeking a position as a full-time BDSM instructor" in one copy, "Seeking a position as full-time kindergarten teacher," in another.
What's the problem there? Both jobs are about maintaining discipline over 'very, very bad boys';)
As a Damned Foreigner, I'd like to ask why lighters are restricted. How is that meant to help stop underage smoking? (real question, not rhetorical). Are matches restricted too?
Maybe Pac-Man is really just a creature that enjoys the taste of clothing worn by a dark skinned creature.
Oh sweet Jesus! It's not violence it's nudity! How could I have been so blind? Think of how many decades we've been letting our children play a game featuring graphic representations of naked black people!
Forget 64% violent, that makes it at LEAST 12% suggestively sexual. Release the lawyers!
I don't really see where you're coming from. I mean, sure the advice you give would work if we're talking about a minimum wage Wal Mart job, but I'll bet that Federal Air Marshals have a lot invested in their work. Not just a job, a career. I hate replying point by point, but I guess that's the only way to deal with this:
1. If you disagree strongly enough, find another job.
Like I said, that might work at Wal Mart. Nobody cares about your complaints at Wal Mart. You can get a job at Target instead, it'll be just the same. What's a Federal Air Marshal going to do? Get a job as a Federal Rail Marshal? Do they even exist? Since when was it better to quit you job and start again than to try and fix your job?
2. While you are finding said job, get some professional help objectivly evaluating your options and creating a strategy.
Maybe they did? I couldn't offer professional help in a situation like this, but my amateur advice would be to do exactly what they did.
3. Map out reasonable tactics and choose the plan that is best for you and your loved ones.
As I said, I think they took reasonable actions and NOT QUITTING YOUR JOB is usually a good way of supporting your loved ones.
4. Execute plan and prepare for unexpected things. In general, the contractor you worked for will publicly discredit you and do what it can to punish you.
Ok. 'Be prepared' is good advice in any situation. As for being discredited, you seem to have overlooked the fact that they were speaking anonymously. Even if you assume that their bosses will know who them damn troublemakers are, what's the worst that could happen? Get fired? Maybe. Get successfully sued for leaking details of immoral and probably illegal business practices? Seems unlikely.
Really, what are you actually suggesting? That they should have quit their jobs before going public with this? Why? You say that they should have made a plan - well it looks to me like they did. I'm guessing these are people who have pride in their work who have found that their career prospects have been ruined by a policy which rewards malicious busy-work over actually doing the job. Best case scenario, they leak this to the press and the management changes policy out of embarrassment. Problem solved (for them... the unfortunates who were put on the no-fly list are another matter). Career resumes, with the possibility of advancement based on legitimate success. Worst case scenario, get fired. Start a different career from the bottom of the ladder.
And what do you call them? poor saps who were idiotic enough to go to the media while they were still employed! You think they should have just thrown away the careers they're trying to save?
Re:It's a "Beacon Bar" not a "Sensor Bar"
on
More Wii-mote Info
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· Score: 3, Funny
...The "sensor bar" sounds more like a "beacon bar"......you should be able to move the "beacon" bar closer...
I must be hungry - I can't stop mis-reading that as "bacon bar".
Mmmmm.... bacon bar. Now there's a way to capture the market. "The Nintendo Wii - featuring revolutionary bacon bar technology!"
As I stated in an earlier post, Austrailia, New Zealand and Singapore already have RFID passports.
As a NZer, my understanding is that we only have RFID due to the US government leaning on us (this happens unfortunately regularly). I can't find a reference off the top of my head, but I remember when they were introduced and I recall that the chips were only going to be used to gain access to the US (but of course they'll be active all the time:( ).
Having seen a couple of posts like this with similar wording, it would be easy to assume that the listed countries are using RFID because it's useful in some way, but as far as I know it's not. I'll definitely be keeping my non-chipped passport until it exprires.
As I say, I can't find a reference for this so I would be glad to be supported or contradicted if anyone has more info.
In a retail environment, standing all day just results in sore feet and irritability while working. Maybe the IT field is different, but in retail, standing all day sucks. Oh course, most things in retail suck, so why should standing be any different.
This comment could go anywhere really, but it slightly answers your post. I have always found that when I am pondering a problem, walking will help 'shake around the pieces' in my head and they will eventually settle into a solution. In a situation like programming where finding a solution is the hard part, and actually implementing it is trivial/drudgery, it helps me a lot.
I think retailing would be very different. I imagine the most draining part of the job is staying constantly alert in case customers need help. In that situation, I don't think you'd get any benefit from walking around. IANA[person with any kind of qualification relating to work practices], but I imagine that retail workers could be refreshed by rotating off 'active duty' every now and then to do something like shifting stock where they can completely ignore everyone around them for a while.
I must disagree that the French government is supporting the free market. Free enterprise would allow Apple to do anything it wants with its products.
Depends what you mean by the free market, I guess. IANAEconomist, but my understanding of free market economics is that ideally there are as many competing products as possible (larger sampling of the product space should contain a better 'best' product), and that the French ruling will allow more products to enter the market (the music player market, that is. Online music sales would seem to be considered a seperate market). More competing products -> better products -> customers win.
You might like to argue that companies should be allowed to enforce lock-in between different product markets (here, ITMS and the iPod) but that starts to sound like you're defending a certain monopoly we all love. Go ahead and try that, I'm sure slashdot will find it hilarious.
*ahem* but pointless bickering aside, the important issues here seem to be:
1) How much dominance is a company allowed to have in a market before its actions in other markets are scrutinised for anti-trust reasons?
2) How the hell do you define the borders between markets?
France is taking a hard line and saying that products in one market shouldn't be allowed to lean on successful products in another market, which sucks if you're in Apple's (or Microsoft's) position. It would be interesting to see a ruling like this applied to similar areas - for instance, requiring that game consoles be able to run unsigned code. Selling consoles at a loss and making it up on games wouldn't work any more, but there's no reason why this would be bad for console manufacturers as long as everyone was playing by the same rules. I'm sure there are a lot of slashdotters who would like to see this happen.
They would be a lot better off going through the document in Word (or Notepad/Textedit/vi/EMACS/whatever) and just selecting the regions of text that they want to remove, and replacing it with [-- TEXT REMOVED --] or even [REDACTED]. If they were really slick, I'm sure somebody could write a little macro to replace the text with an equivalent number of characters of whitespace or random text or dashes, to preserve formatting.
You raise an interesting point... surely if you're redacting text you want to REMOVE ALL TRACE of the original text, including the width of the original text. If you don't, wouldn't you open yourself up to the kind of statistical attacks that are used in cryptanalysis?
For instance, if a name was redacted but you knew the document could only refer to one of a limited number of people you could narrow the options down significantly just by counting the number of characters in the redacted name.
Actually, I suppose this kind of thing must go on all the time in the intelligence community. If you're redacting a physical copy of a document you certainly won't be able to change the width of the redacted text, which should supply SOME information to a determined reader. Anyone know more about this?
At last! I, and I'm sure many other slashdotters, have been trying to find a new government for years. I think Google's on to a winner with this service!
Slashdot Mirror
No, if it were there would have to be an alternative universe where Duke Nukem Forever actually exists ;)
I would disagree. As a developer I'm most interested in using other peoples' code to add functionality to an existing project, not modifying their project. Why reinvent the wheel for a new feature? Granted, I'm using someone elses code and it's reasonable to use it on their terms. However, the GPL strikes me as being software gratis (free as in beer) masquerading as software libre(free as in speech).
I don't have any objection to the GPL, but it seems strange to call it 'free' (libre) software given that you can't freely mingle it with your own code.
This is one of my big problems with the GPL. Why have a draconian license which will stop your code being mingled with respectful but non-GPL projects when any disrespectful group can sidestep the terms of the license? What programmer would say that there's a meaningful (philosophical) difference between linking a library and calling the same library from a system call? And yet one is allowed and the other is not? As a morally upstanding programmer I would feel that I was violating that spirit of the GPL by calling the library which is functionally equivalent to linking it (not that I blame you, and I'm sure everyone would agree that it's a fair use. And yet it makes me uneasy...).
If an unscrupulous person from $EVIL_CORPORATION wants to use GPLed code, why don't they just write a small wrapper to segregate the GPLed code from their own using system calls like you did?
Once again I'd like to say that I support the GPL and the spirit of collaboration that it fosters, but being noble and community spirited is not the same as being free (libre), and I wish people wouldn't call it that. If you want your code to be free, release it under the BSD license (or similar).
One can only hope that Heinlein's story outline consisted of a jumble of new ideas and concepts which he was trying to string together into a cohesive plot. It cerainly seems plausible; Heinlein strikes me as the kind of writer who would decide on a theme for each chapter and figure out how to make his characters expound the theme later.
While I generally agree with you, it's worth mentioning that even though the practical applications of GAs tend to be limited to tweaking parameters there's no reason they couldn't generate a calendar application given appropriate scope and execution time. Imagine a GA which constructs a bit string of arbitrary length, can mutate by randomly flipping bits occasionally and can increase/decrease in size as another mutation. Given the evaluation function "Does this program organize my day?" the GA will eventually produce Microsoft Outlook (and maybe a good calendar application if you keep running it).
The problem is that this is going to take as long as other 'million monkeys' problems.
So in summary, technically a GA can develop any solution which is implementable on a computer but human effort is usually required to find a problem domain which can be attacked in practical time, i.e. tweaking a design which is already almost complete.
Can't you just see the horror movie?
Steaks on a Plane!
The primary mode of gameplay in Settlers of Catan is to acquire and trade resource cards, and use them to build your settlement. Canonically, the resources are lumber, wool, grain, bricks and ore but are often referred to by more common names such as trees, sheep and wheat.
;)
"Wood for sheep" would probably be an offer to give sheep cards in exchange for wood cards (although from the wording it could be either way) - something which has almost NO chance of success in the early game where sheep are almost entirely useless and wood is very valuable, and yet seems likely to be a frequent utterance from random clueless noobs on Xbox Live. Oh they joy of voice chat
Reference please? The claim that native Australians travelled to South America is completely contrary to my understanding of anthropology. Native Australians weren't seafarers, and didn't even travel to Tasmania after seeding a population there. In fact... is that what you're talking about? Your story about "The small tribe discovered on an island off the southern tip of south america" sounds just like Tasmania if you substitute Australia in.
Now, assuming that you're not so thick you got your continents mixed up, perhaps you really mean Polynesians not Australians? The Polynesians were great seafarers, and plausibly visited South America from whence they got their sweet potatos. But once again, I've never heard any evidence of a Polynesian settlement in South America despite the fact that such a settlement would be anthropoligically very exciting. So once again, where's your reference smart guy?
What the hell are you talking about? Are you some kind of uneducated retard? I can't believe you think that! I pity you for being so out of touch with the world that you can even make a statement like that...
You should have said "The idiocy has sunk to new and incredible depths!"
What's the problem there? Both jobs are about maintaining discipline over 'very, very bad boys'
As a Damned Foreigner, I'd like to ask why lighters are restricted. How is that meant to help stop underage smoking? (real question, not rhetorical). Are matches restricted too?
I've heard that phrase before... that's like "Fast, Cheap, Good - pick any two" right?
Oh sweet Jesus! It's not violence it's nudity! How could I have been so blind? Think of how many decades we've been letting our children play a game featuring graphic representations of naked black people!
Forget 64% violent, that makes it at LEAST 12% suggestively sexual. Release the lawyers!
Like I said, that might work at Wal Mart. Nobody cares about your complaints at Wal Mart. You can get a job at Target instead, it'll be just the same. What's a Federal Air Marshal going to do? Get a job as a Federal Rail Marshal? Do they even exist? Since when was it better to quit you job and start again than to try and fix your job?
Maybe they did? I couldn't offer professional help in a situation like this, but my amateur advice would be to do exactly what they did.
As I said, I think they took reasonable actions and NOT QUITTING YOUR JOB is usually a good way of supporting your loved ones.
Ok. 'Be prepared' is good advice in any situation. As for being discredited, you seem to have overlooked the fact that they were speaking anonymously. Even if you assume that their bosses will know who them damn troublemakers are, what's the worst that could happen? Get fired? Maybe. Get successfully sued for leaking details of immoral and probably illegal business practices? Seems unlikely.
Really, what are you actually suggesting? That they should have quit their jobs before going public with this? Why? You say that they should have made a plan - well it looks to me like they did. I'm guessing these are people who have pride in their work who have found that their career prospects have been ruined by a policy which rewards malicious busy-work over actually doing the job. Best case scenario, they leak this to the press and the management changes policy out of embarrassment. Problem solved (for them... the unfortunates who were put on the no-fly list are another matter). Career resumes, with the possibility of advancement based on legitimate success. Worst case scenario, get fired. Start a different career from the bottom of the ladder.
And what do you call them? poor saps who were idiotic enough to go to the media while they were still employed! You think they should have just thrown away the careers they're trying to save?
I must be hungry - I can't stop mis-reading that as "bacon bar".
Mmmmm.... bacon bar. Now there's a way to capture the market. "The Nintendo Wii - featuring revolutionary bacon bar technology!"
Can I pre-order one yet?
This laptop autopsy will self destruct in five seconds...
As a NZer, my understanding is that we only have RFID due to the US government leaning on us (this happens unfortunately regularly). I can't find a reference off the top of my head, but I remember when they were introduced and I recall that the chips were only going to be used to gain access to the US (but of course they'll be active all the time
Having seen a couple of posts like this with similar wording, it would be easy to assume that the listed countries are using RFID because it's useful in some way, but as far as I know it's not. I'll definitely be keeping my non-chipped passport until it exprires.
As I say, I can't find a reference for this so I would be glad to be supported or contradicted if anyone has more info.
This comment could go anywhere really, but it slightly answers your post. I have always found that when I am pondering a problem, walking will help 'shake around the pieces' in my head and they will eventually settle into a solution. In a situation like programming where finding a solution is the hard part, and actually implementing it is trivial/drudgery, it helps me a lot.
I think retailing would be very different. I imagine the most draining part of the job is staying constantly alert in case customers need help. In that situation, I don't think you'd get any benefit from walking around. IANA[person with any kind of qualification relating to work practices], but I imagine that retail workers could be refreshed by rotating off 'active duty' every now and then to do something like shifting stock where they can completely ignore everyone around them for a while.
Gary: Nine-eleven in reverse... Jesus, that's...
Spottswoode: Yes. One hundred and nineteen.
(apologies to the gp, I realise this joke is based on misinterpretation of your post)
Depends what you mean by the free market, I guess. IANAEconomist, but my understanding of free market economics is that ideally there are as many competing products as possible (larger sampling of the product space should contain a better 'best' product), and that the French ruling will allow more products to enter the market (the music player market, that is. Online music sales would seem to be considered a seperate market). More competing products -> better products -> customers win.
You might like to argue that companies should be allowed to enforce lock-in between different product markets (here, ITMS and the iPod) but that starts to sound like you're defending a certain monopoly we all love. Go ahead and try that, I'm sure slashdot will find it hilarious.
*ahem* but pointless bickering aside, the important issues here seem to be:
1) How much dominance is a company allowed to have in a market before its actions in other markets are scrutinised for anti-trust reasons?
2) How the hell do you define the borders between markets?
France is taking a hard line and saying that products in one market shouldn't be allowed to lean on successful products in another market, which sucks if you're in Apple's (or Microsoft's) position. It would be interesting to see a ruling like this applied to similar areas - for instance, requiring that game consoles be able to run unsigned code. Selling consoles at a loss and making it up on games wouldn't work any more, but there's no reason why this would be bad for console manufacturers as long as everyone was playing by the same rules. I'm sure there are a lot of slashdotters who would like to see this happen.
The developers hope that you will choo choo choose it!
(completely OT, but who can resist a Simpsons reference? Especially as a nitpick)
You raise an interesting point... surely if you're redacting text you want to REMOVE ALL TRACE of the original text, including the width of the original text. If you don't, wouldn't you open yourself up to the kind of statistical attacks that are used in cryptanalysis?
For instance, if a name was redacted but you knew the document could only refer to one of a limited number of people you could narrow the options down significantly just by counting the number of characters in the redacted name.
Actually, I suppose this kind of thing must go on all the time in the intelligence community. If you're redacting a physical copy of a document you certainly won't be able to change the width of the redacted text, which should supply SOME information to a determined reader. Anyone know more about this?
At last! I, and I'm sure many other slashdotters, have been trying to find a new government for years. I think Google's on to a winner with this service!