I have absolutly no faith in the people that would get the music. I'm on a college town, trust me, I've seen 200 GB hard drives full of pirated media.
I also don't think that any company would do it. In fact, I explicitly say they would not.
What I do think is that DRM is NOT going to end up as "light" as Apple is. In fact, it's going to get much, much worse. What I am saying, is that it would be great, in an ideal world, for a company to offer free media (note, I never said it had to be big name bands, I know plenty of bands that offer their music for free, and also sell CDs). And that this move would show people non-DRM'ed files CAN work.
I completly agree with you. The MPAA and RIAA will demand a DRM in every instance. They see it as protecting their investment, so I can understand that. (Note: I am completly against DRM in every way, shape, and form, but I do understand their argument).
However, I wonder what would happen if Microsoft, Apple, Google, or some other big name said "no". Think about it. Microsoft launches the next big music vendor, but makes it all free, with small, little known bands with no DRM.
Imagine, if you will, if Apple said the next IPod/ITunes will have no DRM on it. I'd jump all over that.
Why do I say this? Because the companies DO have that power. They can always say no. Will they? No (no pun intended). But I think if one or two of them DID stand up to RIAA, RIAA might realize that they could have to play by someone else's rules. What if Microsoft decided Sony screwed up its rootkit so badly, they would just block Sony cds (somehow). Yes, I know two wrongs don't make a right, but it might make people say: "Gee, if we fuck up our code, our business practices, or whatevers, we might lose a ton of business". And right then, the consumers start to gain power back. Microsoft would gain a lot more respect from tech-savvy people every where if they refused to DRM their next Windows Media Player. Say, "Screw you, we're making this free", and just drop any labels from their track's that wouldn't agree.
I think that would be a monumentous step in the right direction, and would DEFINATLY turn heads in not just the music industry, but every one that utilizes this business practice to hurt their loyal customers.
"Memory prevented the successful installation on a typical 1997 system, as 32MB of memory is not enough to install most Linux distributions or to run desktop applications with acceptable performance. A memory upgrade could prolong the life of such hardware, but the cost and effort of locating old memory and installing it onto all corporate clients significantly reduces the potential savings," Hilf said.
I don't know what they were installing, but not the distros I use. See... lesser known fact about *nix is that it comes in many flavors. If, say, you had an older, piece of junk, you can get just as new a version of Damn Small Linux as you could Fedora Core 4. One is 50 MB, on a cd, the other 6 GB on 4. The thing they're assuming here is that you have to have a GUI to be productive. I call shenanagins.
I've done this same test with a box I 'liberated' from another source. (Was given to me, as it was too old to donate, believe it or not). 'Tis a first gen Pentium, with a whopping 32 MB RAM. I've got Fedora Core 4 on there just fine! It works as a web server, a file server, as well as a programming workstation, and email. I even browse the web on it fine! Oh, one small thing, it won't run X, de to size. (Ok, it will, ya just don't wanna... trust me). Guess what OS was on there previously? a very, VERY sluggish version of 2000. I don't know how they kept it running, but they did.
I ask you, which is better on legacy hardware? The ability to choose what you need, so as to maximize what you have? Or the ability to run everything in the world, and see what breaks?
To the people out there about to mod me flamebait: Yes, I read TFA, and no, I don't buy it. To judge to world of Linux on a few distros is foolish. Just as they test a bunch of versions of Windows, they need to do a range of Linux. Jump to the end of the article:
While Novell's Ungashick agreed that, as a comparison of "out of the box" functionality and resource requirements of modern operating systems, what Microsoft claimed may well be true, he noted that on the desktop, Linux is far more modular and customizable than Windows, allowing it to run on a broader spectrum of hardware.
Good, they acknolwdge what I just said. But again, how do you define out of the box? Is it whatever boots from the CD? Or a 'full install'? I really think this is one of the worst benchmarks I've seen (even the other "independant" studies Microsoft did over the summer) due to the vagueness of the problem (my 'legacy' is your 'dream machine') to the differences inherant in different operating systems.
As an aside, my 'check' word here is "unguided". How fitting I think.
Actually, there was a case (in 2000, I believe) where a destroyer (the ship, not robot) was running a version of windows, got a divide by zero error, and the ship's systems all crashed. It was dead in the water for a few hours.
In September 21, 1997 while on maneuvers off the coast of Cape Charles, Virginia, a crew member entered a zero into a database field causing a divide by zero error in the ships Remote Data Base Manager which brought down all the machines on the network, causing the ships propulsion system to fail.
Anthony DiGiorgio, a civilian contractor with a 26-year history of working on Navy control systems, reported in 1998 that the Yorktown had to be towed back to Norfolk, Virginia naval base. Ron Redman, a deputy technical director with the Aegis Program Executive Office, backed this claim up, suggesting that such system failures had required Yorktown to be towed back to port several times.
Note, it was running Windows NT 4.0. So yes, in military warships we even us Windows. I also believe that Britain's newest destroyer runs on a version, but I forget which, as I read it a while back.
Hey, good point... bring out a case where HUMAN error caused something to go boom. I think if you read the article, you'll see they mean software only, human error is still up to the error between the chair and keyboard.
Ya know... when I was launched 20 years ago, even I shipped with a periphial that moves itself, and reads my mind. Yes, it can also be used hands on...
I don't know about you, but I don't like hitting my hand every time I bring it up to type. My roommate has a desk with the mouse lower like this and boy does it suck. If anyone here has ever played a game where you have to switch between the mouse and the keyboard (say for chatting between you and teammates) this not only kills the time it takes to get up to the keyboard, but you DO hit your hand a lot.
Not to mention the fact that you arms are going to cross in this case with the mouse directly below the keyboard.
If this is any indication of their console, they shoulda just launched years ago with two paper-cups and some string... their launch title? Telephone. Multiplayer, you just have to pass the controller between each pair of players. But look, no limit on amount of players!
Nice, he used Google (gotta get that name out there) to find one dupe from two years ago. Yet using his OWN search here he could have found out that this was reported TWICE just two and a half weeks ago. Also MULTIPLE times two years ago. The 1st, 2nd and 21st of January, 2004. And there's more back there, I just felt like only using the first 15 results.
All snarky (provided for my new years resolution to stop grammar nazis. Yes I realize that just begs for more flaming) comments aside I thought this was a cool idea then, and still think so. That thing's been up there for so long, and still working. NASA gets a lot of press (and I makea ton of jokes) about bad comversions and other matters that make their studies fail, but if this is pulled off, with a good landing, it'll be an amazing feat! I hope lots of good studies are done of the material we bring back, and that no Andromana Strains emerge.
I think you're right, this is legit. Case in point, is the hosting of my website. A friend and fellow coder of mine offered his server when I mentioned I had bought the domain, and needed hosting space. While I have my own space on his server, which is very well set up, I know that if I do something stupid with it, say... hosting pirated pr0n files for FTP access, he'll just remove my space. He has every right, as I could get him in trouble from the ISP.
This is slightly different from me using a domain registered to him, but I think the principle is the same. If something is registered to someone (I'm abstracting here, to make it not just the Internet) then they should have control of it. Now, they might be nice, and let another person look over it for them. Think "house-sitter". But if the owners want to do something with the property, they have that right.
Of course, yes, they could censor stuff, and I'll be the first to take a stand against censorship, but I'll also be the first to take a stand for not taking away property (or rights for that matter). You cannot say "they will abuse it, someone else should have it" without the owners permission (ok, you can say it, just not do it).
I think you're absolutely right in this. In my mind, it's all a matter of damage control. If someone screws their (personal, not shared) development system you're out one programmer for maybe a coupla hours. If someone screws a production server, or something a lot of people use, everyone's down until it gets fixed. In my mind, a user should never be allowed permission to do something that could affect more people then themselves, unless they are well-trusted. Such as an admin in this case. They get permissions because they are trusted to not screw something up, and be able to fix it even if they do.
NSA should burn because they can track your movements with a permenant cookie. This is OBVIOUSLY against a law that I'm sure ALL of us knew about beforehand, and heck, I'll bet its required reading for all web admins in all government positions.
Bush should burn because, hey, there's gotta be a reason.
Microsoft dies because their software is vulnerable to this new attack from the government.
While we're at it, any site that uses cookies should be shut down, because they might be passing information to the government.
What'd I miss...
I'd like to see a beowolf cluster of NSA-burning permenant cookies that ca--- LINUX ROXXORS!1one!
This just in Sandy, it appears that listening to loud music is bad for you. Oh, and apparently it is also bad to put the thing projecting the music right next to your ear drum. More on this as it develops..
Sheesh, what next? I, for one, am sick of hearing about the newest thing that'll hurt me. Come on, anyone here NOT think that these things were bad for you? Seriosuly, little common sense goes a long way.
Quite frankly, I've almost got a communist view of how software/the internet should be. When people need software, I donate my time, and give them what they need. I've done it for individuals, corporations, and schools. Heck, I even helped some on this site for free before a contract was scrutinized and free work wasn't allowed. What I publish on my own is all FOSS, under the GPL, and I couldn't give two craps about people stealing it.
I've found "bootleg" copies of my works before, and it made me happy. People found my software helpful enough to pass it around without my knowledge. Screw DRM, software for the people should get the job done and be free. If you wanna charge other corporations, that's one thing, but software should be free, as in beer, AND the recipe. I know that view won't make you happy, but hey, perhaps I'm just crazy.
Nothing is accomplished behind closed doors and $120k salaries that could not be accomplished with the same programmers donating their time, and producing free, good-quality, software.
Novel concept that... helping out your fellow man, and NOT getting paid for it.
Ya, don't think for a minute that the US is the only country that would jam signals. That's a fiarly important part of war, disrupting enemy command/control and shutting down comms and any other eletronic gizmos you can. So, this is just as good for the EU, who can now jam the US signals without hurting themselves.
This article is based (near as I can tell) on one person's comment about stupid names. Great, so there's one idiot in the world who doesn't realize that Firefox on Linux is the same as Firefox on Windows.
Personally (yes, I am a geek) I've never had any problems with the names. apropos normally gets the job done nice and quick. Ok, that'll ellicit "But you're a geek, think of the normal people !!!1!!" Let me rephrase.
Having sucessfully installed Linux on a few (non-geek's) systems, I can say they've never had any problems. They're not the stupidest, I'll give you that, teaching someone in college might be harder then teaching Grandma Jane, but they were just regular users of their Windows machine, not really utilizing them to their full potential. They took to it rather quick. Yes, these weren't full command line only machines (as I prefer), so the similarities between Windows and Gnome/KDE did all the work.
No one uses any computer with non learning, much as Bill would like to have you think otherwise. So I showed them the basics. "Ok, you know the Start button? That's now here, the picture of the hat." Then I'd explain the most used programs (come on, who didn't have to say "Grandma, click here for the internet"?). "We use Firefox for the web, and thunderbird for email. Gaim is there for IM, and OpenOffice (click here) is just like Microsoft Office." Next came the Linux-specific crap. "To figure out a command, use 'man '. And to find what you're looking for, try apropos and grep."
Some of you may say "oh, they're a geek if they understood that", but I assure you, if you stay, and talk with them about the change they just made in their lifestyle, everyone can pick it up. Just sit, and answer any questions they have, its that simple. Oh, gee, exactly like what I do when I install Windows for someone for the first time. Hmm... perhaps because each are different operating systems, with their own learning curve and commands? Just... might... be...
Now, to say that Linux commands/programs are confusing, where Windows commands/programs aren't... boggles me. Linux breaks things down into nice categories by default. So my friend wanted a cd player, went to sound and video, and found, miracle of miracles, a cd player. Didn't have to ask me. People new to Windows have to figure out to use Windows Media Player.
Windows, assuming you didn't use it in the last ten programs, makes you search through a list of everything installed on the start menu. Which, since the programmer decides what to put it under (ok, no flaming, I know you can change it, but would a 80-year old woman who just clicks "next"?) it could be the name of the software suite, the company name, the program name, even the programmer's dog's name!
Who's to say "Illustrator" and "Photoshop" are such good names? The former literally would be something to illustrate books, and the latter would be software to buy pictures. Hold on, notepad AND wordpad for text editing? I guess one must be for notes, and the other for individual words. AOL Instant Messanger... interesting, that won't work with my Yahoo account, how do I get that to work? WinAmp to play music (ok, some of my favorite windows software, granted) that should be an amplifier of the Win? No... software to amplify sounds for windows? Sorta... but no... Wait a SEC! Windows Media Player to rip CDs?! I thought it played music, not copied it. Roxio blah blah blah for CD burning. The odds of someone having that specific program on their computer depend on who they bought the computer from. I have problems saying that's something on a typical installation. Nero, that program should squander my money in lavish parties, have sex with young boys and ruin the empire, erm, my system.
Hey, the guy turns around on page two (if you got that far) to say that "Linux names may seem confusing but actually are not." Good he points out what GIMP stands for. Not a program to beat up handicapped children by Rockstar, but a sensibly named image editing program. Ho
Have you set up a computer with Dell? Recently I was purchasing one for my student government. I had specific things I wanted, and specific ones I did not want. For instance, through my school, Windows XP Professional is $10. So I most definately did not want windows on there. This, however, is something I was told is impossible. From a sales rep, hired to represent the schools interest I heard "I'm sorry sir, we do not ship computers without Microsoft." No lie. You can change specific parts, but when EVERY computer is shipped with a specific OS, that cost is built into every computer regardless of how small it is.
Would I call that a monopoly? No, that's just a crappy partnership that works against its customers (granted, as is the point of such partnerships).
Now, I realize that Dell ships Linux and I'm not sure why I was told the above, but notice what they use. Red Hat Enterprise. Again, you pay an extra fee for the OS, when there are so many free ones out there. Look at the price, $900 for a, granted 3 gHz, 512 MB RAM, 48X CD-ROM (not burner) and only 80 GB hard drive. This is by far a bad deal, probably because they don't purchase RH installs with quite the frequency of Windows, so they pay a lot closer to the real price of $179 (basic) or $299 (Standard).
It wasn't 18,000 TODAY, it was 18,000 over the past three months. They kill 200 a day, FTFA. Which means, they could still be easily above 5 million. In factm I'd bet they are still over, as they just reached 5 million at the end of these 18k bannings.
hmm... yours seem to be saggin. Perhaps we want women who won't have a heart attack when Da Fox gets freaky with them?
I'm thinkin some of these (*)(*) See? Nice and perky!
Or, if you want tassles
(!)(!)
Puffies?
(@)(@)
Implants?
(^)(^) (lil too perky if you ask me)
Grandma?
UU
But now that the market is finally maturing, Microsoft is doing what is does so well--bringing products to market based on other companies' technology. Hey, I normally have no problem with that--I prefer Word over Wordstar, Excel over Visicalc, and Access over dbaseIV. But this time Microsoft is steamrolling its way into wireless messaging through the clear theft of my, Daniel's, Chris', and others' intellectual property. That's why Visto is suing.
This is great, first he thinks it's fine for Microsoft to steamroll others, because he prefers their solution. Then he gets mad when they do him?! If you support them "stealing" from other people, you better be ready to have your stuff stolen. I cannot understand his logic at all here.
As for the patent, IANAL, but from what I gather, this isn't exactly an open and shut case. In fact, his sytem sounds quite broad, and one person even pointed out CVS was na exmaple of it (from 1986)! I think (hope) this'll fade into the background of all the other horrible patent fights we've seen. And will trouble it no more.
Slashdot Mirror
These people realize that the moon doesn't *actually* change size based on how much sunlight bounces off of it right?
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
I have absolutly no faith in the people that would get the music. I'm on a college town, trust me, I've seen 200 GB hard drives full of pirated media.
I also don't think that any company would do it. In fact, I explicitly say they would not.
What I do think is that DRM is NOT going to end up as "light" as Apple is. In fact, it's going to get much, much worse. What I am saying, is that it would be great, in an ideal world, for a company to offer free media (note, I never said it had to be big name bands, I know plenty of bands that offer their music for free, and also sell CDs). And that this move would show people non-DRM'ed files CAN work.
I completly agree with you. The MPAA and RIAA will demand a DRM in every instance. They see it as protecting their investment, so I can understand that. (Note: I am completly against DRM in every way, shape, and form, but I do understand their argument).
However, I wonder what would happen if Microsoft, Apple, Google, or some other big name said "no". Think about it. Microsoft launches the next big music vendor, but makes it all free, with small, little known bands with no DRM.
Imagine, if you will, if Apple said the next IPod/ITunes will have no DRM on it. I'd jump all over that.
Why do I say this? Because the companies DO have that power. They can always say no. Will they? No (no pun intended). But I think if one or two of them DID stand up to RIAA, RIAA might realize that they could have to play by someone else's rules. What if Microsoft decided Sony screwed up its rootkit so badly, they would just block Sony cds (somehow). Yes, I know two wrongs don't make a right, but it might make people say: "Gee, if we fuck up our code, our business practices, or whatevers, we might lose a ton of business". And right then, the consumers start to gain power back. Microsoft would gain a lot more respect from tech-savvy people every where if they refused to DRM their next Windows Media Player. Say, "Screw you, we're making this free", and just drop any labels from their track's that wouldn't agree.
I think that would be a monumentous step in the right direction, and would DEFINATLY turn heads in not just the music industry, but every one that utilizes this business practice to hurt their loyal customers.
I don't know what they were installing, but not the distros I use. See... lesser known fact about *nix is that it comes in many flavors. If, say, you had an older, piece of junk, you can get just as new a version of Damn Small Linux as you could Fedora Core 4. One is 50 MB, on a cd, the other 6 GB on 4. The thing they're assuming here is that you have to have a GUI to be productive. I call shenanagins.
I've done this same test with a box I 'liberated' from another source. (Was given to me, as it was too old to donate, believe it or not). 'Tis a first gen Pentium, with a whopping 32 MB RAM. I've got Fedora Core 4 on there just fine! It works as a web server, a file server, as well as a programming workstation, and email. I even browse the web on it fine! Oh, one small thing, it won't run X, de to size. (Ok, it will, ya just don't wanna... trust me). Guess what OS was on there previously? a very, VERY sluggish version of 2000. I don't know how they kept it running, but they did.
I ask you, which is better on legacy hardware? The ability to choose what you need, so as to maximize what you have? Or the ability to run everything in the world, and see what breaks?
To the people out there about to mod me flamebait: Yes, I read TFA, and no, I don't buy it. To judge to world of Linux on a few distros is foolish. Just as they test a bunch of versions of Windows, they need to do a range of Linux. Jump to the end of the article:
Good, they acknolwdge what I just said. But again, how do you define out of the box? Is it whatever boots from the CD? Or a 'full install'? I really think this is one of the worst benchmarks I've seen (even the other "independant" studies Microsoft did over the summer) due to the vagueness of the problem (my 'legacy' is your 'dream machine') to the differences inherant in different operating systems.
As an aside, my 'check' word here is "unguided". How fitting I think.
Yea, apparently the 4 years between it and "Black Hawk Down" (2001) make it a classic.
Yea, but you misspelled it. Is there a Linux/Unix version of GAIM I haven't heard of? Fixed it for ya.
Actually, there was a case (in 2000, I believe) where a destroyer (the ship, not robot) was running a version of windows, got a divide by zero error, and the ship's systems all crashed. It was dead in the water for a few hours.
Yes, found a wiki:
Note, it was running Windows NT 4.0. So yes, in military warships we even us Windows. I also believe that Britain's newest destroyer runs on a version, but I forget which, as I read it a while back.
Hey, good point... bring out a case where HUMAN error caused something to go boom. I think if you read the article, you'll see they mean software only, human error is still up to the error between the chair and keyboard.
Ya know... when I was launched 20 years ago, even I shipped with a periphial that moves itself, and reads my mind. Yes, it can also be used hands on...
I don't know about you, but I don't like hitting my hand every time I bring it up to type. My roommate has a desk with the mouse lower like this and boy does it suck. If anyone here has ever played a game where you have to switch between the mouse and the keyboard (say for chatting between you and teammates) this not only kills the time it takes to get up to the keyboard, but you DO hit your hand a lot.
Not to mention the fact that you arms are going to cross in this case with the mouse directly below the keyboard.
If this is any indication of their console, they shoulda just launched years ago with two paper-cups and some string... their launch title? Telephone. Multiplayer, you just have to pass the controller between each pair of players. But look, no limit on amount of players!
All snarky (provided for my new years resolution to stop grammar nazis. Yes I realize that just begs for more flaming) comments aside I thought this was a cool idea then, and still think so. That thing's been up there for so long, and still working. NASA gets a lot of press (and I makea ton of jokes) about bad comversions and other matters that make their studies fail, but if this is pulled off, with a good landing, it'll be an amazing feat! I hope lots of good studies are done of the material we bring back, and that no Andromana Strains emerge.
I think you're right, this is legit. Case in point, is the hosting of my website. A friend and fellow coder of mine offered his server when I mentioned I had bought the domain, and needed hosting space. While I have my own space on his server, which is very well set up, I know that if I do something stupid with it, say... hosting pirated pr0n files for FTP access, he'll just remove my space. He has every right, as I could get him in trouble from the ISP.
This is slightly different from me using a domain registered to him, but I think the principle is the same. If something is registered to someone (I'm abstracting here, to make it not just the Internet) then they should have control of it. Now, they might be nice, and let another person look over it for them. Think "house-sitter". But if the owners want to do something with the property, they have that right.
Of course, yes, they could censor stuff, and I'll be the first to take a stand against censorship, but I'll also be the first to take a stand for not taking away property (or rights for that matter). You cannot say "they will abuse it, someone else should have it" without the owners permission (ok, you can say it, just not do it).
I think you're absolutely right in this. In my mind, it's all a matter of damage control. If someone screws their (personal, not shared) development system you're out one programmer for maybe a coupla hours. If someone screws a production server, or something a lot of people use, everyone's down until it gets fixed. In my mind, a user should never be allowed permission to do something that could affect more people then themselves, unless they are well-trusted. Such as an admin in this case. They get permissions because they are trusted to not screw something up, and be able to fix it even if they do.
Well... lets see...
NSA should burn because they can track your movements with a permenant cookie. This is OBVIOUSLY against a law that I'm sure ALL of us knew about beforehand, and heck, I'll bet its required reading for all web admins in all government positions.
Bush should burn because, hey, there's gotta be a reason.
Microsoft dies because their software is vulnerable to this new attack from the government.
While we're at it, any site that uses cookies should be shut down, because they might be passing information to the government.
What'd I miss...
I'd like to see a beowolf cluster of NSA-burning permenant cookies that ca--- LINUX ROXXORS!1one!
This just in Sandy, it appears that listening to loud music is bad for you. Oh, and apparently it is also bad to put the thing projecting the music right next to your ear drum. More on this as it develops..
Sheesh, what next? I, for one, am sick of hearing about the newest thing that'll hurt me. Come on, anyone here NOT think that these things were bad for you? Seriosuly, little common sense goes a long way.
I make software to help people, fuck profit.
Quite frankly, I've almost got a communist view of how software/the internet should be. When people need software, I donate my time, and give them what they need. I've done it for individuals, corporations, and schools. Heck, I even helped some on this site for free before a contract was scrutinized and free work wasn't allowed. What I publish on my own is all FOSS, under the GPL, and I couldn't give two craps about people stealing it.
I've found "bootleg" copies of my works before, and it made me happy. People found my software helpful enough to pass it around without my knowledge. Screw DRM, software for the people should get the job done and be free. If you wanna charge other corporations, that's one thing, but software should be free, as in beer, AND the recipe. I know that view won't make you happy, but hey, perhaps I'm just crazy.
Nothing is accomplished behind closed doors and $120k salaries that could not be accomplished with the same programmers donating their time, and producing free, good-quality, software.
Novel concept that... helping out your fellow man, and NOT getting paid for it.
take the DRM out... nothing to fight over. *shakes head* Now, why can't they think of that?
Ya, don't think for a minute that the US is the only country that would jam signals. That's a fiarly important part of war, disrupting enemy command/control and shutting down comms and any other eletronic gizmos you can. So, this is just as good for the EU, who can now jam the US signals without hurting themselves.
FOUR fscks in one command sequence? I fsck MAYBE once a year, and that's if something drastic happens. You must be very slow, and I prefer to be fast.
This article is based (near as I can tell) on one person's comment about stupid names. Great, so there's one idiot in the world who doesn't realize that Firefox on Linux is the same as Firefox on Windows.
Personally (yes, I am a geek) I've never had any problems with the names. apropos normally gets the job done nice and quick. Ok, that'll ellicit "But you're a geek, think of the normal people !!!1!!" Let me rephrase.
Having sucessfully installed Linux on a few (non-geek's) systems, I can say they've never had any problems. They're not the stupidest, I'll give you that, teaching someone in college might be harder then teaching Grandma Jane, but they were just regular users of their Windows machine, not really utilizing them to their full potential. They took to it rather quick. Yes, these weren't full command line only machines (as I prefer), so the similarities between Windows and Gnome/KDE did all the work.
No one uses any computer with non learning, much as Bill would like to have you think otherwise. So I showed them the basics. "Ok, you know the Start button? That's now here, the picture of the hat." Then I'd explain the most used programs (come on, who didn't have to say "Grandma, click here for the internet"?). "We use Firefox for the web, and thunderbird for email. Gaim is there for IM, and OpenOffice (click here) is just like Microsoft Office." Next came the Linux-specific crap. "To figure out a command, use 'man '. And to find what you're looking for, try apropos and grep."
Some of you may say "oh, they're a geek if they understood that", but I assure you, if you stay, and talk with them about the change they just made in their lifestyle, everyone can pick it up. Just sit, and answer any questions they have, its that simple. Oh, gee, exactly like what I do when I install Windows for someone for the first time. Hmm... perhaps because each are different operating systems, with their own learning curve and commands? Just... might... be...
Now, to say that Linux commands/programs are confusing, where Windows commands/programs aren't... boggles me. Linux breaks things down into nice categories by default. So my friend wanted a cd player, went to sound and video, and found, miracle of miracles, a cd player. Didn't have to ask me. People new to Windows have to figure out to use Windows Media Player.
Windows, assuming you didn't use it in the last ten programs, makes you search through a list of everything installed on the start menu. Which, since the programmer decides what to put it under (ok, no flaming, I know you can change it, but would a 80-year old woman who just clicks "next"?) it could be the name of the software suite, the company name, the program name, even the programmer's dog's name!
Who's to say "Illustrator" and "Photoshop" are such good names? The former literally would be something to illustrate books, and the latter would be software to buy pictures. Hold on, notepad AND wordpad for text editing? I guess one must be for notes, and the other for individual words. AOL Instant Messanger... interesting, that won't work with my Yahoo account, how do I get that to work? WinAmp to play music (ok, some of my favorite windows software, granted) that should be an amplifier of the Win? No... software to amplify sounds for windows? Sorta... but no... Wait a SEC! Windows Media Player to rip CDs?! I thought it played music, not copied it. Roxio blah blah blah for CD burning. The odds of someone having that specific program on their computer depend on who they bought the computer from. I have problems saying that's something on a typical installation. Nero, that program should squander my money in lavish parties, have sex with young boys and ruin the empire, erm, my system.
Hey, the guy turns around on page two (if you got that far) to say that "Linux names may seem confusing but actually are not." Good he points out what GIMP stands for. Not a program to beat up handicapped children by Rockstar, but a sensibly named image editing program. Ho
Have you set up a computer with Dell? Recently I was purchasing one for my student government. I had specific things I wanted, and specific ones I did not want. For instance, through my school, Windows XP Professional is $10. So I most definately did not want windows on there. This, however, is something I was told is impossible. From a sales rep, hired to represent the schools interest I heard "I'm sorry sir, we do not ship computers without Microsoft." No lie. You can change specific parts, but when EVERY computer is shipped with a specific OS, that cost is built into every computer regardless of how small it is.
Would I call that a monopoly? No, that's just a crappy partnership that works against its customers (granted, as is the point of such partnerships).
Now, I realize that Dell ships Linux and I'm not sure why I was told the above, but notice what they use. Red Hat Enterprise. Again, you pay an extra fee for the OS, when there are so many free ones out there. Look at the price, $900 for a, granted 3 gHz, 512 MB RAM, 48X CD-ROM (not burner) and only 80 GB hard drive. This is by far a bad deal, probably because they don't purchase RH installs with quite the frequency of Windows, so they pay a lot closer to the real price of $179 (basic) or $299 (Standard).
It wasn't 18,000 TODAY, it was 18,000 over the past three months. They kill 200 a day, FTFA. Which means, they could still be easily above 5 million. In factm I'd bet they are still over, as they just reached 5 million at the end of these 18k bannings.
hmm... yours seem to be saggin. Perhaps we want women who won't have a heart attack when Da Fox gets freaky with them? I'm thinkin some of these (*)(*) See? Nice and perky! Or, if you want tassles (!)(!) Puffies? (@)(@) Implants? (^)(^) (lil too perky if you ask me) Grandma? UU
They forgot we use meters on Earth, and not Quantum Light Years... my guess? Big smash, nice crater, Nothing to see here folks, please move along.
This is great, first he thinks it's fine for Microsoft to steamroll others, because he prefers their solution. Then he gets mad when they do him?! If you support them "stealing" from other people, you better be ready to have your stuff stolen. I cannot understand his logic at all here. As for the patent, IANAL, but from what I gather, this isn't exactly an open and shut case. In fact, his sytem sounds quite broad, and one person even pointed out CVS was na exmaple of it (from 1986)! I think (hope) this'll fade into the background of all the other horrible patent fights we've seen. And will trouble it no more.