Most of us modern day monks really wish AOL would press their software onto CD-RWs or CD-Rs with space left so we can rewrite over them with more useful stuff.
I was so sorry when AOL started sending out CDs instead of floppies. I think there was a 2-year period where I didn't buy a single floppy, just harvested them from the mail.
So this will only lead to corps. making even more contrived bands...
I'm not certain I follow your logic here. Going by your assumptions (which I mostly agree with, incidentally), people are right now paying $16-17 (in the US) for a single song. Moving to a system where these people only have to pay $1 for that same song dramatically reduces the record companies' profits. How exactly does that encourage them to generate "even more contrived bands"?
I have written an auto-indexing tool (sitemgr) for websites. The catch is, it doesn't index existing websites. It parses textfiles that I have written, converts them to HTML, and indexes them. I've released it under the GPL.
8.5.5 - To zero-initialize storage for an object of type T means:
if T is a scalar type (3.9) [a long definition; take it from me that int is in fact a scalar], the storage is set to the value of 0 (zero) converted to T;
.... To default-initialize an object of type T means... the storage for the object is zero-initialized.
8.5.9 - If no initializer is specified for an object... the object shall be default-initialized;....
Taken together, this means that ints will be automatically initialized to 0 unless you specifically initialize them to another value. If your compiler doesn't do this, then your compiler is broken.
Your value of 'a' is unknown, it is probably something like 0xCDCDCDCD.
Not quite, it is in fact 0. In C++, integral types are automatically initialized to 0 by default. Floating-point types are automatically initialized to 0.0, bools are initialized to false, and class objects are initialized using their default constructors.
I don't think its reasonable to expect users tounderstand the source code.
I'll grant you that (although it depends on the audience). However, the simple fact that the source code is available is extremely empowering for the end user. Given a user with no programming experience who finds a fault in GPL-ed software, (s)he has several options.
Find a programmer friend to fix it (likelihood may vary).
Find someone at their company to fix it (again, likelihood may vary).
Do a quick Web search. If it's a popular piece of software, someone may have already patched it.
Hire a consultant to fix it. This may not be as expensive as it sounds, either. There are plenty of CS students at local colleges falling all over themselves to get paid for programming jobs, and they'll work cheap.
Having someone to sue should really be secondary to having someone to fix any problems that may occur, and, as you can see, free software users have plenty of these someones.
Forgive me if this has been asked elsewhere, but why did y'all choose those distributions for those servers? I'm genuinely curious; I'm unfamiliar with the large-scale differences between distributions. (My computer runs Mandrake... that decision was based on the single factor that my friend happened to have a Mandrake CD on him.)
Re:It's YOU that has paid for it.....
on
Can I Lend DVDs?
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· Score: 1
Taking things to the logical extreme, could inviting a group of friends over to watch movies be construed as "lending"? The rational-thinker side of me knows it's ludicrous, but to the paranoid-consiracy-theorist side of me, it makes a weird kind of sense. What if you had to give a cut to the MPAA in order to watch movies at home? It gives a new meaning to "home theater"...
Does it seem to anyone else like the level of intelligence at Microsoft has dropped significantly lately? Sure, I knew they were evil, but I never really thought they were stupid. Now, within the space of one week they attack Slashdot and release this astonishingly dumb "update". (It actually hurts my eyes to look at it. That's only happened once before, at my last job.)
Is this some kind of clever trick that I don't understand, or are they disintegrating?
</FLAME>
(This was not meant as flamebait... I got carried away while typing.)
No, you're right, it's not nearly as good. Google had a booth at the Harvard Square May Fair this past Sunday (in sunny Cambridge MA) and I stopped to chat with them. They asked me what I liked best about their engine, and I replied that whatever I was looking for was usually in the top 4 or 5 results returned. I've done a few searches with Raging, and it doesn't come close to Google's accuracy.
Why would you buy a WINmodem if you need to use it under Linux?
I purchased my laptop back when I was still using Windows. After I made the jump to Linux, I didn't have the spare cash to replace my laptop, so I have to suffer with a WinModem. I imagine there are other folks in situations similar to mine.
I may be misunderstanding you, (I hope I'm misunderstanding you) but are you asserting that it's perfectly moral to steal, provided the victim has more money to start with than the thief? That seems like a rather mean-spirited philosophy.
I won't argue that stealing is wrong, period. I can think of some cases where theft is perfectly justified. I think your system, however, is morally flawed.
I enjoyed Ender's Game but I never made it through Speaker For The Dead. I felt sort of insulted after the first couple of chapters, like Card was clubbing me over the head with the same point over and over. I found myself saying, "Okay, okay, everyone hates Ender now. I get it!".
Judging from the positive reactions to this story, though, I think I'll give Speaker another try, after I get through Illuminatus!.
In the ancient world, mandrake root was used as a talisman for fertility. In fact, they're mentioned in the Bible for that purpose (sort of) - Genesis 30:14-16.
I disagree. I think it's a great thing. I also think that Alpha and PowerPC optimized distributions would be great things as well. The nice thing about having many Linux distributions is that each can cater to a specific niche. My favorite feature of Open Source software is that I can tailor it to my own needs; optimizing a Linux distribution to a specific processor seems like a natural outgrowth of this feature.
(I wanted to state this more eloquently, but I've been helping a friend with her laptop all night, and I'm beat.)
When I look at all the animated crud out there, I think the fact that PNG doesn't support animation is a blessing, not a curse.
But, if I may paraphrase Mark Twain, that's only my opinion, and it's worth no more than the Pope's... but no less, for that matter.
Re:books will always be around
on
RMS On eBooks
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· Score: 1
This is perfectly true. There are many places (bed, bathroom) where a paper book makes much more sense for me. However, electronic books are a huge space-saver for me when I travel. When I go on vacation, or sometimes even if I'm just going cross-town to work, electronic books make a lot more sense than paper.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been pronouncing it "the naughties".
Yeah, my friends don't think I'm funny either. :(
I was so sorry when AOL started sending out CDs instead of floppies. I think there was a 2-year period where I didn't buy a single floppy, just harvested them from the mail.
Wow. I actually thought the MindGuard people were serious, until I read their license. Funny.
I'm not certain I follow your logic here. Going by your assumptions (which I mostly agree with, incidentally), people are right now paying $16-17 (in the US) for a single song. Moving to a system where these people only have to pay $1 for that same song dramatically reduces the record companies' profits. How exactly does that encourage them to generate "even more contrived bands"?
I'm not sure I want to admit to this, but...
I have written an auto-indexing tool (sitemgr) for websites. The catch is, it doesn't index existing websites. It parses textfiles that I have written, converts them to HTML, and indexes them. I've released it under the GPL.
You can download it from http://www.tiac.net/users/way nem/downloads/index.html, and you can see examples of the output at http://www.tiac.net/users/waynem/ and sometimes http://white-fang.ne.mediaone.net/. It may not be what you're looking for but... there it is, I guess.
Lemme guess... Boba Kenny?
You killed Boba Kenny! You bastards!
Taken together, this means that ints will be automatically initialized to 0 unless you specifically initialize them to another value. If your compiler doesn't do this, then your compiler is broken.
Not quite, it is in fact 0. In C++, integral types are automatically initialized to 0 by default. Floating-point types are automatically initialized to 0.0, bools are initialized to false, and class objects are initialized using their default constructors.
Because it's human nature to explore and discover. Exploration for its own sake is always a Good Thing(tm).
I'll grant you that (although it depends on the audience). However, the simple fact that the source code is available is extremely empowering for the end user. Given a user with no programming experience who finds a fault in GPL-ed software, (s)he has several options.
Having someone to sue should really be secondary to having someone to fix any problems that may occur, and, as you can see, free software users have plenty of these someones.
Forgive me if this has been asked elsewhere, but why did y'all choose those distributions for those servers? I'm genuinely curious; I'm unfamiliar with the large-scale differences between distributions. (My computer runs Mandrake... that decision was based on the single factor that my friend happened to have a Mandrake CD on him.)
Taking things to the logical extreme, could inviting a group of friends over to watch movies be construed as "lending"? The rational-thinker side of me knows it's ludicrous, but to the paranoid-consiracy-theorist side of me, it makes a weird kind of sense. What if you had to give a cut to the MPAA in order to watch movies at home? It gives a new meaning to "home theater"...
An animated paperclip?
<FLAME>
Does it seem to anyone else like the level of intelligence at Microsoft has dropped significantly lately? Sure, I knew they were evil, but I never really thought they were stupid. Now, within the space of one week they attack Slashdot and release this astonishingly dumb "update". (It actually hurts my eyes to look at it. That's only happened once before, at my last job.)
Is this some kind of clever trick that I don't understand, or are they disintegrating?
</FLAME>
(This was not meant as flamebait... I got carried away while typing.)
No, you're right, it's not nearly as good. Google had a booth at the Harvard Square May Fair this past Sunday (in sunny Cambridge MA) and I stopped to chat with them. They asked me what I liked best about their engine, and I replied that whatever I was looking for was usually in the top 4 or 5 results returned. I've done a few searches with Raging, and it doesn't come close to Google's accuracy.
Sure is blindinly fast, though.
Yahoo Serious had a career? I must have blinked.
Why would you buy a WINmodem if you need to use it under Linux?
I purchased my laptop back when I was still using Windows. After I made the jump to Linux, I didn't have the spare cash to replace my laptop, so I have to suffer with a WinModem. I imagine there are other folks in situations similar to mine.
Bah! I'm inscribing it on punch cards. Cards rock!
People fear things that are new. (Okay, okay, I know Open Source isn't exactly new, but it's new to the general public.)
I may be misunderstanding you, (I hope I'm misunderstanding you) but are you asserting that it's perfectly moral to steal, provided the victim has more money to start with than the thief? That seems like a rather mean-spirited philosophy.
I won't argue that stealing is wrong, period. I can think of some cases where theft is perfectly justified. I think your system, however, is morally flawed.
I enjoyed Ender's Game but I never made it through Speaker For The Dead. I felt sort of insulted after the first couple of chapters, like Card was clubbing me over the head with the same point over and over. I found myself saying, "Okay, okay, everyone hates Ender now. I get it!".
Judging from the positive reactions to this story, though, I think I'll give Speaker another try, after I get through Illuminatus!.
In the ancient world, mandrake root was used as a talisman for fertility. In fact, they're mentioned in the Bible for that purpose (sort of) - Genesis 30:14-16.
I disagree. I think it's a great thing. I also think that Alpha and PowerPC optimized distributions would be great things as well. The nice thing about having many Linux distributions is that each can cater to a specific niche. My favorite feature of Open Source software is that I can tailor it to my own needs; optimizing a Linux distribution to a specific processor seems like a natural outgrowth of this feature.
(I wanted to state this more eloquently, but I've been helping a friend with her laptop all night, and I'm beat.)
When I look at all the animated crud out there, I think the fact that PNG doesn't support animation is a blessing, not a curse.
But, if I may paraphrase Mark Twain, that's only my opinion, and it's worth no more than the Pope's... but no less, for that matter.
This is perfectly true. There are many places (bed, bathroom) where a paper book makes much more sense for me. However, electronic books are a huge space-saver for me when I travel. When I go on vacation, or sometimes even if I'm just going cross-town to work, electronic books make a lot more sense than paper.