Finally! Now Linux has some real backing in the industry (well, not really the industry, but the government at least).
Now, this means that the NSA can personally secure the file system, password protection schemes, and so on for all Linux users. Can you imagine the kind of security that Linux can have now?!?!!? Finally, Linux might become a viable online brokerage operating system. The only reason that Windows is still being used is because it's the most secure O/S out there.
I'm looking forward to seeing the new O/S that the NSA will come out with. It should be interesting.
Did I ever say that those words were mine? Anope. I never claimed any rights to those words. And for that matter, neither did you. Therefore, they are assumed Public Domain and so I think the appropriate words are:
You seem to fall into the common trap of thinking that the different P2P architectures are just different approaches to doing the same
thing. This isn't the case, there is actually very little in common between the various architectures as they generally have very different
goals. For example, Napster and Gnutella are both designed to let people share their mp3s with other people, Freenet is designed to
provide a secure forum for free speech, Seti@home is designed to combine people's spare cycles to find aliens etc. These systems are as
different as chalk and cheese, just because many journalists think they fall under the P2P buzzword, doesn't mean that they have any
more in common than any other software, nor that there is any more room for interoperability than there is with any other software that
communicates via the Internet.
The claim that P2P would be great if only the systems would interoperate really doesn't bear much scrutiny, TCP/IP is often the full
extent of what these systems have in common. This isn't a flaw, it is a simple fact.
Let's look at what would happen if every exam, every homework, etc. were to be posted on the Internet.
Students would be able to view previous examinations, learn exactly what questions professors ask, and learn only those questions. This will lead to focused studying instead of the broad studying necessary for a real education.
Professors will have extra work to do in keeping the web page up-to-date.
Students would grow mad at professors who do not keep their site up-to-date, leading to lawsuits pertaining to fair education, etc.
Students with computers at home (i.e., financially stable students) will have access at all times, while others (minorities, etc) will not, leading to an even bigger gap between upper- and middle-class.
The creed of Geeks everywhere is "Information wants to be free." In this case, though, I think that this information should be confined to the institution where it belongs. Don't destroy glorious MIT just because it's the latest "cool thing".
I'm just as fanatical about freedom and anti-corporational as any other geek, but if the Napster/RIAA fiasco has taught us geeks anything, it should be that we cannot win. There are minor victories along the way for freedom, but in the end, it's completely rediculous to fight the power.
Think about the recent USA elections. Ralph Nader had some promising campaign goals, and a few good court battles that helped him get onto the ballot in many states. However, in the end, fighting for him was futile. There's no point in trying to overthrow the current political/corporational regime. The only thing that can be done is to sit back and try to make the best out of our terrible situation.
DeCSS has taught us that the American corporations know no national bounds in their attempt to gain more profits for themselves.
I could go on and on, but I think my point is made. There is no reason to fight against the status quo. I know, it would be good to fight it, because it's moral, blah blah blah. But it's futile. Just live with it already.
What is it with people taking apart complex pieces of machinery? What's worse, what's with people taking apart small, complex pieces of machinery? Do you even know what I would do to get myself an iPaq? But instead, people mutilate beautiful pieces of technology just for their own curiosities. Why?
Before you say "Well, he could put it back together," can you imagine the amount of effort it would take to put something that complex back together? It's like chopping off a dog's leg then saying "Well, we'll put it back once we're done."
Why can't people just leave the technology alone, interface with it through the normal channels, and stop trying to "tweak" it? Isn't it enough that it's a *#(@ iPaq?!?!?!?!! Just be glad that you have one and don't destroy it!
The best thing that ever happened to the Dreamcast was its failure.
Before you mark me as flamebait, let me explain. I didn't like the Dreamcast. I never played Sega stuff. I was a Nintendo boy, because Sega just plain sucked (All Your Base, anyone?)
When I saw that the Dreamcast was being discontinued and offered for only $99, I went out and bought one because, hey, it's only $99. With the dropping price of games (due to said discontinuation) I thought I could grab a couple of good games before they went off the shelf.
Dreamcast is an incredible machine, way better than that PS2 crap. Games for the PS2 just plain suck, the controller is uncomfortable, and the prices are over-inflated by artificially-created hype. DC, on the other hand, has lots of good games, the controller is terrific, and you can play up to 4 players.
Just because the Dreamcast failed doesn't mean that it sucks. PS2 sucks. Dreamcast is going to have loyal fans (myself included) for a long time.
What Katz fails to realize is that the moderation systems here on/., or K5 are completely voluntary. If somebody does not want to moderate on either weblog, they are not required to.
Or are they? It seems to me that peer pressure, brought on by Meta-Moderation here on/. or "Truster User" status on K5 seems to imply that people have a sociological need to moderate other people. People enjoy being lazy, by their very nature. Look at the U.S.A., for God's sake. Just give us our Whoppers, a La-Z-Boy and some XFL football and we're happy for the next 2 hours until we fall asleep and droll all over ourselves.
Television is still going to be the most efficient way of communicating with the masses. People hate to read, write, or do anything constructive. They want the information fed to them. Katz can scream about the "New World Order" of the 'net, but in the end, this is doomed just like all adventurous tasks; there's too much thought involved and people are turned off by thought.
What's the problem with paying people for their work? It's gotta be tough for these people to keep coming into work everyday when they're receiving nothing more than a few "Thank You" notes for their work.
Even the god-among-men ESR thinks that Open Source does not mean that one has to forgo monetary considerations.
Pay these people their money and get on with your life.
What did you all expect? Whenever you pay for a service and give anybody information about you, they are going to collect that information. I can't believe that people would be astonished by this being made public.
Companies have a business to run; collecting our information is part of that business. How do you expect a company to be competitive if they cannot know exactly who is using their products and when those products are being used?
People are going to be outraged by this "invasion of privacy". I just see it as smart business, plain and simple.
Man... When it's said like that, it's incredible. Just think of the leaps and bounds that have been made in only 75 years. A single trip to the moon, where we have not been back yet, no trips to Mars, our closest celestial neighbor...
Really, what has happened? We started out with a bang! A trip to the Moon in 1968, and then what? Absolutely nothing. Incredible. Where did us geeks go wrong? Did we not try hard enough to convince the "suits" that our causes were good enough?
I was expecting a trip to Jupiter by now (2001, doncha know?) It's sad. I was looking forward to a vacation on the moon.
"Internet Evolution"? Come on... The Internet has not evolved at all. It was created, and is continuing to be created everyday. It's not that the Internet has "evolved", it's that creators have been tinkering with the specifications.
Recently, though, it has stagnated. In other words, the creators have left, and the laws of the Internet have taken over, much like what has happened here in our own Universe.
The parallels are astounding; Now that we humans believe we have created a great Internet, we will leave it to its own devices, and see what happens to it. Will HTML be replaced by XML? Who knows? In the end, though, the creators of the Internet will have final say over what standards to use and which protocols receive special treatment.
How dare you call me a troll? Perhaps I was unclear about my statements, but to label me as a troll?
Have you seen the list of credits at the end of Diablo? I would bet that there are at least 50 people from Blizzard who worked on Diablo. My point about the small number of developers is that a singular vision could be shared. How could a vision of a video game be shared by 50 people at the same time? Among 5 or so, it is possible, because of the high amount of personal interest and input in such a small group. But 50?!?
How dare you threaten to mod me down as a troll? Just because I was unclear does not mean that I am trolling.
The problem with this project, and indeed most Open Source gaming projects, is that it becomes too easy for people to cheat. As opposed to, say, the kernel of Linux, where every change must be poured over by the Kernel Keepers (tm), in this game, somebody could commit a CVS change with nobody knowing the difference.
Cheating, hidden codes, and advantageous bugs will be plentiful in this game, and so nobody will play it. It will be a failure of the Open Source model. And let's not get into the idea of them trusting client-side programs to be run. You can't even trust Diablo client-side, so why would you trust something with open source?
I'd rather have a small group of developers (say, 5 or so) writing the game, with no source code availability. This would reduce the number of bugs because only those 5 people would know the source, and so naming conventions and other programming practices could be held. Plus, there would be a clear picture of where the project was headed. Some average coder would be unable to put in a function "just for fun", and so bloat would be minimal.
It'll be interesting to see where this project leads; to/dev/null or to a Brave New World of programming. Time will tell.
"Hactivism" is the biggest contradiction that I have heard in quite a while. Have any of you read these mailing lists? All these "Hackers" are just sKR1p7 K1dD13Z who want to justify their pathetic attempts to illegally violate the civil rights of their victims.
"Hacktivists" are usually nothing more than 12-year-old pimply-faced boys who got tired of Pr0n on the 'net and decided to try something else. Give it a rest. There's no reason behind their hacking; it's just a justification for illegal activities.
This is another example of great progress being made in the fields of technology. I'm happy to see that we (human beings, of course) can now transmit high quality television through the old standard bands (NTSC).
With the addition of HDTV signals, digital information can now be decoded easily, without clogging up the already-crowded airwaves. In addition to this, transmitters can now encode into their signals specific copy-protection schemes so that people receiving HDTV signals cannot use them illegally.
By making this transition painless for the everyday user, HDTV can now incorporate more heavily-enforced copy protection schemes, preventing pirating of signals. I look forward to this happening. Less signal pirating will lead to better programming, because more people will pay for their signal instead of getting it for free. More money leads to better talent, which will lead to more money...
I love Linux just as much as anybody else (Hell, I'm the admin of more than 20 boxes where I work) but this kind of thing is just a no-brainer. Open Source software has the most vulnerable system model available
Hold on, don't flame me yet. Open Source has the most vulnerable model available, yes. Anybody who knows how to code can put anything they want into the code. Exploits should be abundant, right?
Of course, we all know that there are no exploits for Linux, and dozens of them for Windoze. But what does this mean? I believe that it means Linux has such a great backing in the community that people are watching over each other.
But what happens when some malicious person decides to screw with the code? That's right. Disaster. It's on the horizon. Linux has only been around a few years, and it's long overdue for hackers to install some exploits. I admire DARPA for putting money into this boiling pot, and hope that they can defuse the problem before it gets out of hand. Because once Linux has been shown to be unstable and vulnerable (security wise) then Slashdot is no more...
Unfortunately, the ABA complaining about these patents will do no good. The only good that may come of this is the idea that some of these lawyers will refuse to defend patent holders in court. Yeah, right. When monkeys fly (as opposed to the ones you punch for $20).
This is just like if a bunch of computer programmers decided to issue a statement that "Windows is bad, and should not be used." Yes, it's true. Yes, something should be done. But it serves no useful purpose.
People who are being pissed off by stupid things like this need to rise up, and take some action. I'm a programmer in Visual Basic, and I know that Windows is the worst operating system in the world. So what am I doing about it? I'm writing a letter to Congress to support the efforts against Microsoft (it's in my hand right now, and will be sent out in today's mail). And those of us who are angry about patents should develop some way to fight the good fight in Congress, too... Never underestimate the power of mail (snail mail, they get read more).
What makes us think that we can translate their language? All we're going to be doing is creating a Turing Machine. We would learn that "squeek-squah" should be met with a response of "boor-grap" or something. I remember reading once about a thought experiment where a person is inside a box with a language-response book. An experimenter would feed in Japanese characters, and the person inside would look up those characters and spit out a "response". Eventually, the person inside would get so good that they wouldn't need to look it up; they recognize it immediately. To the scientist outside, it looks like the box understands Japanese, but the person inside is just following the rules.
Why is it we humans think that we can conquer every task that we put ourselves to? It makes no sense to me that we might be able to understand something that dolphins know. There are just some things that can't be learned.
The best part about Wolfenstein being ported to Linux is that now, anybody with an old computer sitting in the corner can play it again. I mean, without paying $100 for an extra copy of Windows 9x to play it on (cause you have to have a separate license for every computer, you know).
Anybody with a x86 could play games! Now how much more great could it get?!?!?! We need more games ported. I agree with you; when will developers start to take Linux seriously as a gaming OS?
Too bad their marketing sucks and they can't get any good hardware out there. I mean, they drop support of the Dreamcast just when people are starting to talk about it?!?!?!? WTF is up with that?
Shenmue is a great game, but I was talking about the stagnation of PC games. Good luck ever getting SEGA to port something to a PC. They can't even program for their own hardware...
Ok, the original Fallout might be a valid counter-agrument, I forgot about that one. So, I'll grant you. ONE game in the past 3 years (that's a conservative time estimate) has an original storyline and plot. Now if only they would port it to Linux... But there's really no hope in that, since the games that get ported are always old, poorly done, and require such horrible system requirements, you'd need a P4 just to run Wolfenstein, much less something new...
And you've given me 2 counter-examples for the future. Do you know that there will be more than 3,500 games released next year? I guarantee most of them will be FPS...
You know, like every geek out there, I drooled over Wolfenstein 3D. It was new, different, and you could actually kill people. If memory serves, that is the reason that I first bought a sound card, was to hear the screams of the dead soldiers.
But now, FPS has become a cliched genre. "Ooh, what do I do now? I search for a switch and it lets me exit the level! How original!" How many games have come out recently that are FPS? ALL OF THEM. The only exceptions are RTS games like Starcraft (itself only a new skin on top of Warcraft).
PC games have hit a rut, and developers have no good ideas anymore. It nearly makes me want to buy an old Nintendo and bust out Bubble Bobble. PC game (and console, anymore) developers have no creativity and can't find a good storyline with a map and a flashlight.
I like the section of Chapter 4 (about 1/4 the way down the page) that is titled Is Emacs an argument against the Unix philosophy? It seems to me that Emacs is most definately an argument against the simplicity of Unix.
Things in Unix are meant to be fast; just ask any Linux user why they run Linux, and they'll tell you that they enjoy the power and speed compared to WinBlows. But the fact that Emacs takes a long time to load up (at least on my P75 machine), has a list of unnecessary features that could rival M$ Word, and simple things like saving a file require 2 commands (ctrl-x ctrl-s) all adds up to a lack of speed, a lack of elegance, and a lack of design.
Slashdot Mirror
Now, this means that the NSA can personally secure the file system, password protection schemes, and so on for all Linux users. Can you imagine the kind of security that Linux can have now?!?!!? Finally, Linux might become a viable online brokerage operating system. The only reason that Windows is still being used is because it's the most secure O/S out there.
I'm looking forward to seeing the new O/S that the NSA will come out with. It should be interesting.
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That's just the way it is
Neener neener neener.
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That's just the way it is
The claim that P2P would be great if only the systems would interoperate really doesn't bear much scrutiny, TCP/IP is often the full extent of what these systems have in common. This isn't a flaw, it is a simple fact.
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That's just the way it is
- Students would be able to view previous examinations, learn exactly what questions professors ask, and learn only those questions. This will lead to focused studying instead of the broad studying necessary for a real education.
- Professors will have extra work to do in keeping the web page up-to-date.
- Students would grow mad at professors who do not keep their site up-to-date, leading to lawsuits pertaining to fair education, etc.
- Students with computers at home (i.e., financially stable students) will have access at all times, while others (minorities, etc) will not, leading to an even bigger gap between upper- and middle-class.
The creed of Geeks everywhere is "Information wants to be free." In this case, though, I think that this information should be confined to the institution where it belongs. Don't destroy glorious MIT just because it's the latest "cool thing".------
That's just the way it is
Think about the recent USA elections. Ralph Nader had some promising campaign goals, and a few good court battles that helped him get onto the ballot in many states. However, in the end, fighting for him was futile. There's no point in trying to overthrow the current political/corporational regime. The only thing that can be done is to sit back and try to make the best out of our terrible situation.
DeCSS has taught us that the American corporations know no national bounds in their attempt to gain more profits for themselves.
I could go on and on, but I think my point is made. There is no reason to fight against the status quo. I know, it would be good to fight it, because it's moral, blah blah blah. But it's futile. Just live with it already.
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That's just the way it is
Before you say "Well, he could put it back together," can you imagine the amount of effort it would take to put something that complex back together? It's like chopping off a dog's leg then saying "Well, we'll put it back once we're done."
Why can't people just leave the technology alone, interface with it through the normal channels, and stop trying to "tweak" it? Isn't it enough that it's a *#(@ iPaq?!?!?!?!! Just be glad that you have one and don't destroy it!
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That's just the way it is
Before you mark me as flamebait, let me explain. I didn't like the Dreamcast. I never played Sega stuff. I was a Nintendo boy, because Sega just plain sucked (All Your Base, anyone?)
When I saw that the Dreamcast was being discontinued and offered for only $99, I went out and bought one because, hey, it's only $99. With the dropping price of games (due to said discontinuation) I thought I could grab a couple of good games before they went off the shelf.
Dreamcast is an incredible machine, way better than that PS2 crap. Games for the PS2 just plain suck, the controller is uncomfortable, and the prices are over-inflated by artificially-created hype. DC, on the other hand, has lots of good games, the controller is terrific, and you can play up to 4 players.
Just because the Dreamcast failed doesn't mean that it sucks. PS2 sucks. Dreamcast is going to have loyal fans (myself included) for a long time.
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That's just the way it is
Or are they? It seems to me that peer pressure, brought on by Meta-Moderation here on /. or "Truster User" status on K5 seems to imply that people have a sociological need to moderate other people. People enjoy being lazy, by their very nature. Look at the U.S.A., for God's sake. Just give us our Whoppers, a La-Z-Boy and some XFL football and we're happy for the next 2 hours until we fall asleep and droll all over ourselves.
Television is still going to be the most efficient way of communicating with the masses. People hate to read, write, or do anything constructive. They want the information fed to them. Katz can scream about the "New World Order" of the 'net, but in the end, this is doomed just like all adventurous tasks; there's too much thought involved and people are turned off by thought.
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That's just the way it is
Even the god-among-men ESR thinks that Open Source does not mean that one has to forgo monetary considerations.
Pay these people their money and get on with your life.
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That's just the way it is
Companies have a business to run; collecting our information is part of that business. How do you expect a company to be competitive if they cannot know exactly who is using their products and when those products are being used?
People are going to be outraged by this "invasion of privacy". I just see it as smart business, plain and simple.
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That's just the way it is
Really, what has happened? We started out with a bang! A trip to the Moon in 1968, and then what? Absolutely nothing. Incredible. Where did us geeks go wrong? Did we not try hard enough to convince the "suits" that our causes were good enough?
I was expecting a trip to Jupiter by now (2001, doncha know?) It's sad. I was looking forward to a vacation on the moon.
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That's just the way it is
Recently, though, it has stagnated. In other words, the creators have left, and the laws of the Internet have taken over, much like what has happened here in our own Universe.
The parallels are astounding; Now that we humans believe we have created a great Internet, we will leave it to its own devices, and see what happens to it. Will HTML be replaced by XML? Who knows? In the end, though, the creators of the Internet will have final say over what standards to use and which protocols receive special treatment.
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That's just the way it is
Have you seen the list of credits at the end of Diablo? I would bet that there are at least 50 people from Blizzard who worked on Diablo. My point about the small number of developers is that a singular vision could be shared. How could a vision of a video game be shared by 50 people at the same time? Among 5 or so, it is possible, because of the high amount of personal interest and input in such a small group. But 50?!?
How dare you threaten to mod me down as a troll? Just because I was unclear does not mean that I am trolling.
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That's just the way it is
Cheating, hidden codes, and advantageous bugs will be plentiful in this game, and so nobody will play it. It will be a failure of the Open Source model. And let's not get into the idea of them trusting client-side programs to be run. You can't even trust Diablo client-side, so why would you trust something with open source?
I'd rather have a small group of developers (say, 5 or so) writing the game, with no source code availability. This would reduce the number of bugs because only those 5 people would know the source, and so naming conventions and other programming practices could be held. Plus, there would be a clear picture of where the project was headed. Some average coder would be unable to put in a function "just for fun", and so bloat would be minimal.
It'll be interesting to see where this project leads; to /dev/null or to a Brave New World of programming. Time will tell.
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That's just the way it is
"Hacktivists" are usually nothing more than 12-year-old pimply-faced boys who got tired of Pr0n on the 'net and decided to try something else. Give it a rest. There's no reason behind their hacking; it's just a justification for illegal activities.
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That's just the way it is
With the addition of HDTV signals, digital information can now be decoded easily, without clogging up the already-crowded airwaves. In addition to this, transmitters can now encode into their signals specific copy-protection schemes so that people receiving HDTV signals cannot use them illegally.
By making this transition painless for the everyday user, HDTV can now incorporate more heavily-enforced copy protection schemes, preventing pirating of signals. I look forward to this happening. Less signal pirating will lead to better programming, because more people will pay for their signal instead of getting it for free. More money leads to better talent, which will lead to more money...
Bring on HDTV, I say!
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That's just the way it is
http://www.linux.or.jp/en/index.html
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That's just the way it is
Hold on, don't flame me yet. Open Source has the most vulnerable model available, yes. Anybody who knows how to code can put anything they want into the code. Exploits should be abundant, right?
Of course, we all know that there are no exploits for Linux, and dozens of them for Windoze. But what does this mean? I believe that it means Linux has such a great backing in the community that people are watching over each other.
But what happens when some malicious person decides to screw with the code? That's right. Disaster. It's on the horizon. Linux has only been around a few years, and it's long overdue for hackers to install some exploits. I admire DARPA for putting money into this boiling pot, and hope that they can defuse the problem before it gets out of hand. Because once Linux has been shown to be unstable and vulnerable (security wise) then Slashdot is no more...
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That's just the way it is
This is just like if a bunch of computer programmers decided to issue a statement that "Windows is bad, and should not be used." Yes, it's true. Yes, something should be done. But it serves no useful purpose.
People who are being pissed off by stupid things like this need to rise up, and take some action. I'm a programmer in Visual Basic, and I know that Windows is the worst operating system in the world. So what am I doing about it? I'm writing a letter to Congress to support the efforts against Microsoft (it's in my hand right now, and will be sent out in today's mail). And those of us who are angry about patents should develop some way to fight the good fight in Congress, too... Never underestimate the power of mail (snail mail, they get read more).
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That's just the way it is
Why is it we humans think that we can conquer every task that we put ourselves to? It makes no sense to me that we might be able to understand something that dolphins know. There are just some things that can't be learned.
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That's just the way it is
Anybody with a x86 could play games! Now how much more great could it get?!?!?! We need more games ported. I agree with you; when will developers start to take Linux seriously as a gaming OS?
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That's just the way it is
Shenmue is a great game, but I was talking about the stagnation of PC games. Good luck ever getting SEGA to port something to a PC. They can't even program for their own hardware...
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That's just the way it is
And you've given me 2 counter-examples for the future. Do you know that there will be more than 3,500 games released next year? I guarantee most of them will be FPS...
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That's just the way it is
But now, FPS has become a cliched genre. "Ooh, what do I do now? I search for a switch and it lets me exit the level! How original!" How many games have come out recently that are FPS? ALL OF THEM. The only exceptions are RTS games like Starcraft (itself only a new skin on top of Warcraft).
PC games have hit a rut, and developers have no good ideas anymore. It nearly makes me want to buy an old Nintendo and bust out Bubble Bobble. PC game (and console, anymore) developers have no creativity and can't find a good storyline with a map and a flashlight.
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That's just the way it is
Things in Unix are meant to be fast; just ask any Linux user why they run Linux, and they'll tell you that they enjoy the power and speed compared to WinBlows. But the fact that Emacs takes a long time to load up (at least on my P75 machine), has a list of unnecessary features that could rival M$ Word, and simple things like saving a file require 2 commands (ctrl-x ctrl-s) all adds up to a lack of speed, a lack of elegance, and a lack of design.
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That's just the way it is