Yes. I'm performing one now...everyone hold hands.
me: ooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........... .......weeee caaaaalllll on the spirit of Ada Lovelace... Aaaddddaaaaaaa....are you with us, Ada?
ada: *whispers* imhere
me: Ada! Tell us, what do we need to know about programming?
Well, it depends on what you define as an 'important role'. For example, X11 is also as important as glibc, gcc, or binutils, especially for a desktop OS like Ubuntu.
OTOH, just as important to the user experience in Ubuntu as a desktop OS is the GNOME desktop (notice I said Ubuntu, not Kubuntu), and GNOME actually is part of the GNU project. (I've had people argue with me on this point -- if you don't believe me, hear it from the horse's mouth.)
On the gripping hand, Ubuntu and GNOME use quite a bit of other non-GNU software to aid in the user experience: Python, for instance. Much of the packaging system (apt-get, synaptic, etc.) comes from the Debian project, of course, which is not part of the GNU project.
IMHO, the best thing you can say about an operating system such as Ubuntu is that it consists of a motley collection of open source tools offered under a variety of different licenses and is packaged in a nice way that smooths over integration issues, adds polish and shine, and provides the out-of-the-box experience.
I work in IT for a Fortune 500 manufacturer.
Virtually all of the machines in my server room are accessed via an LCD-based console manager. All of our new business desktops are coming with LCD flat panels (we're in the middle of a desktop refresh cycle). Plus, many users are on laptops.
Most business computers have exactly 0 64-bit apps.
Product Lifecycle Mangement (PLM) systems, which are very common in manufacturing-based businesses, are all 64-bit on the server side, and many (esp. CAD systems like CATIA V5) are 64-bit on the client side as well.
Most business computers have less than 3 GB of RAM. They tend to have 512-1024 MB.
Most PLM servers have at least 4 GB of RAM. One I work with has 32 GB and 4 CPUs. Many CAD workstations have at least 4GB that as well.
The PC on my desktop (a business desktop) has 256MB:-/
There's also some wireless stuff, which a lot of businesses don't need on desktops
All of the laptops in the company I work for have wireless NICs in them.
Doesn't seem particularly troublesome to me...did I miss something?
Yes. You've obviously never worked in corporate IT. When a server is down, the last thing you're worried about is contacting the frickin' vendor to get the OS activated. Servers in the corporate datacenter aren't likely to have Internet access. So to getting it activated is going to likely require a phone call. Every minute that server is down, it's costing the company $$$ in lost productivity. And what if someone forgets to do it? Ouch.
the passenger's history of not showing up for flights
Why do they want to know that?
how the ticket was paid for (including credit card number)
That's even scarier.
whether the passenger bought the ticket at the airport just before the flight
Because terrorists never plan anything out in advance, they just buy the ticket at the last minute, right? It seems like they want to know if this is a person fleeing from law enforcement.
special requests, such as requests for special meals, for a wheelchair, or help for an unaccompanied minor
'Cause if the passenger requests certain dietary restrictions, they can usually nail down what religion he is.
pricing information
Hmmm...now why does it matter how much the person paid for the ticket? Just exactly who are they selling this information to?
You just gotta love those evil, corrupt bastards that run the U.S. Government!
Attorney Don Shelkey: "true shrink wrap EULAs have been tested in most major jurisdictions and are valid contracts"
Actually, what Shelkey said was that "true shrink wrap EULAs ahve been tested in most major jurisdictions and are valid contracts, subject to certain limitations." Meaning that not all of EULA is necessarily enforceable. In particular, the controversial parts about reverse engineering, choice of forum, and indemnification provisions may not be enforceable in all jurisdictions under all circumstances.
Also, it's important to note context of Shelkey's article -- MMOGs were saying that the "TOS" or "EULA" that they click-through to play an online game was not enforceable, and Shelkey was saying clearly that in all instances these agreements were enforceable because they meet all of the elements of a contract. But whether shrink-wrap EULAs are enforceable depends on what they are trying to enforce. That's what he's saying.
It is in the same damn place as on windows - dufus.
Not on all apps. On Microsoft Office apps and a few others, yes, you just hit the 'Delete' key. But on some apps, there is no foward cursor deleting. It's an inconsistent behavior that's been a problem since the days of MacOS9.
Having said that, what's with all the big companies wanting to get into gaming PCs? That's a very small market, and with all the consoles coming out with HD, I don't see PC gaming getting a larger market (although I don't know if it will shrink).
The market can't be all that small. When CompUSA and Best Buy are in the gaming PC business (and they are), you have to realize that these are mass market companies. If they didn't think they'd sell a bunch at their stores, they wouldn't carry them. I predict that within the next 5 years, we'll see Wal*Mart, or at least walmart.com, carrying gaming PCs.
Maybe they also wanted to google/firefox to perform as badly as possible on the same dataset.
Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
Microsoft-sponsored benchmarks are almost always about making the other guy look bad, while inflating their own performance. Think of the 'Get the FUD^WFacts' campaign or the tests that pit Windows 2K3 Server against Samba, where the Red Hat box was tuned -- on purpose -- to the worst possible setting.
You only have to look better than your next biggest competitor in Microsoft's playbook.
Fine, there have been plenty of broken promises from phone companies (and, I believe, cable providers, satellite providers, and others) over the years. 7 million homes also might be a little optimistic.
Broken promises are one thing. Broken promises that you have been paying for are quite another. The phone companies have had extra charges tacked on to your phone bill for years to pay for the development of FTTH.
In legal circles, I believe that they call this 'fraud'.
this is quite possibly the worst example you could have made here. I mean do you SERIOUSLY want North Korea and Iran to have nukes? Despite how much you might dislike the US or its current administration, it is far more safe for the nukes to be in our hands than the countries you've mentioned. so yes, in this case, it is ok for us and not ok for some other people.
\ Yeah, but, *ahem* who has access to the big red button to launch the 'nucular' weapons?
'Ubergeek' - Used to be a geek who was consistently and spectacularly excellent at something, particularly some aspect of computer science (Minsky, Thompson, Ritchie, Larry Wall, James Gosling, etc.) now it's used for anybody who writes code for the Linux kernel.
I'm not sure if it's what you want, but VNC can tunnel through ssh. The combination works for me, anyway. For that matter, anything that can be locked down to a specific port or range of ports (i.e., VNC works because you can nail it down to something like 5901-5910, depending on the number of displays, but FTP won't because of its tendancy to use random high-numbered ports) will work through ssh. So http, smb/cifs, nfs, etc all seem to work. Requires a bit more work for some exotic protocols, though -- you may need to watch both ends of the connection with ethereal or [insert your favorite packet sniffer here]. Free and requires very little setup. If you need more than a couple of connections, though, it gets to be a bit unwieldy -- that's when you need to opt for one of the 'real' VPN solutions like OpenVPN.
Wicked... hmmm.... a castle full of nubile virgins all asking me to spank them?
See why you need to be careful what you wish for? He probably would have given you the castle of full of nubile virgins if you hadn't already had asked for the the bus that would keep up with the speed of the processor.
I agree there is a problem if your employees steal your companies technology and take it elsewhere. That's where employee contracts come in handy. I think instead of a Patent act we should have a secrecy act. That is, you can be sued if you take advantage of someone elses secrets by poaching employees or espionage [but not via co-invention].
We do. It's called trade secret law, and it's a very old form of law rooted in British common law. Virtually every tech company out there makes use of trade secret law on a day-to-day basis. Of course, the problem with trade secret law is this: what if I can figure out how to make a 65nm circuit by examining it with electron microscope? Well, then guess what? The trade secret isn't secret anymore and it loses its protected status. That's where patents come in.
I'm not in favor of abolishing patents -- I think patents are a good thing when used correctly. It's the patent abuse that ruins the whole system. I don't think we should throw out the baby with the bath water. What we need to do is reform the patent system, and IBM has taken a good first step in leading the way. No more business process patents, no more vagueness, and for godsakes, if you haven't implemented your invention yet, you don't deserve a patent. And the USPTO needs to stop granting patents for things that are blatantly obvious to anyone skilled in the art.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes. I'm performing one now...everyone hold hands.
. .......weeee caaaaalllll on the spirit of Ada Lovelace ... Aaaddddaaaaaaa....are you with us, Ada?
me: ooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........
ada: *whispers* imhere
me: Ada! Tell us, what do we need to know about programming?
ada: m
me: yes?
ada: micro
me: yes? tell us!
ada: microsoft!
me: well?
ada: is
me: yes??
ada: da
me: huh?
ada: 3v1l!!!!
me: whoa!
HP had to develop such a tiny memory technology for their spy cameras! :)
Well, it depends on what you define as an 'important role'. For example, X11 is also as important as glibc, gcc, or binutils, especially for a desktop OS like Ubuntu.
OTOH, just as important to the user experience in Ubuntu as a desktop OS is the GNOME desktop (notice I said Ubuntu, not Kubuntu), and GNOME actually is part of the GNU project. (I've had people argue with me on this point -- if you don't believe me, hear it from the horse's mouth.)
On the gripping hand, Ubuntu and GNOME use quite a bit of other non-GNU software to aid in the user experience: Python, for instance. Much of the packaging system (apt-get, synaptic, etc.) comes from the Debian project, of course, which is not part of the GNU project.
IMHO, the best thing you can say about an operating system such as Ubuntu is that it consists of a motley collection of open source tools offered under a variety of different licenses and is packaged in a nice way that smooths over integration issues, adds polish and shine, and provides the out-of-the-box experience.
Teamcenter Engineering and Teamcenter Enterprise with CATIA V5 and I-DEAS.
:)
.... rob dot shinn at gmail dot com ...)
Guess which Fortune 500 manufacturer I work for?
(Drop me an e-mail if you like
What does XP give me that 2k doesn't?
On XP on a 32-bit box, you can allocate 3 GB for your apps, instead of 2 GB. Support for Physical Address Extensions (PAE), too.
There is support for 64-bit machines on the 64-bit edition of XP or Windows Server 2K3.
Better support for flat panel displays. (ClearType)
XP will stay fully supported for quite sometime. Win2K is likely to be EOLed soon.
Yes. You've obviously never worked in corporate IT. When a server is down, the last thing you're worried about is contacting the frickin' vendor to get the OS activated. Servers in the corporate datacenter aren't likely to have Internet access. So to getting it activated is going to likely require a phone call. Every minute that server is down, it's costing the company $$$ in lost productivity. And what if someone forgets to do it? Ouch.
frequent flyer miles flown;
That's scary.
the passenger's history of not showing up for flights
Why do they want to know that?
how the ticket was paid for (including credit card number)
That's even scarier.
whether the passenger bought the ticket at the airport just before the flight
Because terrorists never plan anything out in advance, they just buy the ticket at the last minute, right? It seems like they want to know if this is a person fleeing from law enforcement.
special requests, such as requests for special meals, for a wheelchair, or help for an unaccompanied minor
'Cause if the passenger requests certain dietary restrictions, they can usually nail down what religion he is.
pricing information
Hmmm...now why does it matter how much the person paid for the ticket? Just exactly who are they selling this information to?
You just gotta love those evil, corrupt bastards that run the U.S. Government!
You can join the Windows Vista group.
Attorney Don Shelkey: "true shrink wrap EULAs have been tested in most major jurisdictions and are valid contracts"
Actually, what Shelkey said was that "true shrink wrap EULAs ahve been tested in most major jurisdictions and are valid contracts, subject to certain limitations." Meaning that not all of EULA is necessarily enforceable. In particular, the controversial parts about reverse engineering, choice of forum, and indemnification provisions may not be enforceable in all jurisdictions under all circumstances.
Also, it's important to note context of Shelkey's article -- MMOGs were saying that the "TOS" or "EULA" that they click-through to play an online game was not enforceable, and Shelkey was saying clearly that in all instances these agreements were enforceable because they meet all of the elements of a contract. But whether shrink-wrap EULAs are enforceable depends on what they are trying to enforce. That's what he's saying.
linkage
It is in the same damn place as on windows - dufus. Not on all apps. On Microsoft Office apps and a few others, yes, you just hit the 'Delete' key. But on some apps, there is no foward cursor deleting. It's an inconsistent behavior that's been a problem since the days of MacOS9.
Of course, the USPS became an independent entity that receives 0 taxpayer dollars, too...
Maybe they also wanted to google/firefox to perform as badly as possible on the same dataset.
Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
Microsoft-sponsored benchmarks are almost always about making the other guy look bad, while inflating their own performance. Think of the 'Get the FUD^WFacts' campaign or the tests that pit Windows 2K3 Server against Samba, where the Red Hat box was tuned -- on purpose -- to the worst possible setting.
You only have to look better than your next biggest competitor in Microsoft's playbook.
Broken promises are one thing. Broken promises that you have been paying for are quite another. The phone companies have had extra charges tacked on to your phone bill for years to pay for the development of FTTH.
In legal circles, I believe that they call this 'fraud'.
Yeah, but, *ahem* who has access to the big red button to launch the 'nucular' weapons?
Have you SEEN the Mac Pro? I know a lot of people like it, but I really don't. I think it's rather utliarian, grey and ugly.
Go ahead, Apple fanbois, mod me down!
'Ubergeek' - Used to be a geek who was consistently and spectacularly excellent at something, particularly some aspect of computer science (Minsky, Thompson, Ritchie, Larry Wall, James Gosling, etc.) now it's used for anybody who writes code for the Linux kernel.
Bork, bork, bork! Oops, wrong skit.
"There's motha f**in snakes in the motha f**in space!"
I would also think that the specifying of species is also equally important.
(Yeah, yeah, so I'm a pervert.)
I'm not sure if it's what you want, but VNC can tunnel through ssh. The combination works for me, anyway.
For that matter, anything that can be locked down to a specific port or range of ports (i.e., VNC works because you can nail it down to something like 5901-5910, depending on the number of displays, but FTP won't because of its tendancy to use random high-numbered ports) will work through ssh. So http, smb/cifs, nfs, etc all seem to work. Requires a bit more work for some exotic protocols, though -- you may need to watch both ends of the connection with ethereal or [insert your favorite packet sniffer here]. Free and requires very little setup. If you need more than a couple of connections, though, it gets to be a bit unwieldy -- that's when you need to opt for one of the 'real' VPN solutions like OpenVPN.
See why you need to be careful what you wish for? He probably would have given you the castle of full of nubile virgins if you hadn't already had asked for the the bus that would keep up with the speed of the processor.
The original GPLv2 was, in fact, printed on a giant cookie.
We do. It's called trade secret law, and it's a very old form of law rooted in British common law. Virtually every tech company out there makes use of trade secret law on a day-to-day basis. Of course, the problem with trade secret law is this: what if I can figure out how to make a 65nm circuit by examining it with electron microscope? Well, then guess what? The trade secret isn't secret anymore and it loses its protected status. That's where patents come in.
I'm not in favor of abolishing patents -- I think patents are a good thing when used correctly. It's the patent abuse that ruins the whole system. I don't think we should throw out the baby with the bath water. What we need to do is reform the patent system, and IBM has taken a good first step in leading the way. No more business process patents, no more vagueness, and for godsakes, if you haven't implemented your invention yet, you don't deserve a patent. And the USPTO needs to stop granting patents for things that are blatantly obvious to anyone skilled in the art.
Tell me about it. I'm going to have to remove my junk from my storage unit, too. What a pain. Maybe they should go after Del Monte, too.