I'm surprised not everyone here realizes this. Listen up, fellow Slashdotters: the average person thinks that filtering software works. Shocking, isn't it?!!?
Why are all of you geeks are so surprised when non-geeks have a misconception about technology? If everyone knew as much about technology as we did, then everyone would be a geek!
The way you fix this is not by posting on Slashdot. Instead, you should be educating your neighbors and your elected officials. Write them letters or talk to them. Tell them in plain language that the filters are not effective.
Either the company is in denail, afraid (very unlikely), or does not exist.
I remember hearing from some IBM executives that there were lots of big companies that had switched from OS/2 to Windows, and then needed IBM's help to switch back to OS/2. Unfortunately, in every case, part of the agreement to switch back to OS/2 was that IBM didn't tell anyone about it. After all, would you want people to know that your much-publicized conversion to Windows was a huge waste of time and money?
I find it very, very hard to believe that 1 pentium class server could replace what a 3+3 server NT cluster could do at any decent utilization.
I've heard plenty of stories of OS/2 Warp Server doing the same thing. The above article may have been glamourized a bit, but I think it's quite believeable.
It's not worth the effort. Video hardware is immensely complicated. A Linux video driver programmer could add support for 10 other chips in the time it would to reverse-engineer the Windows drivers.
Sorry, but that's just not true. I like my job a lot, but I can't stand the cubicle I'm usually in. For the past couple weeks, I've been working off-site, and I have a very nice office. I can easily work TWICE as many hours in the day now.
According to my research, the web site for her office is http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/.
The address listed there is:
Clerk's Office
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
I'm going to verify the address tomorrow, but in the meantime, I suggest that everyone write her a letter informing her of this issue. Tell her that any remedy she proposes for Microsoft must address the bootloader issue. Be sure to tell her, in simple terms, what this issue really is. Include the URL to the Byte article so that she can read more about it.
The irony in all this is that "Merlin" was the code-name for OS/2 Warp 4, which was the first desktop OS to include speech recognition technology. How can these people be so ignorant of history?
I can't see why a company may want to deploy sourceforge on site.
I can't imagine any company wanting to use Sourceforge off-site. Think of the risks:
If anything happens to VA Linux or Sourceforge.net, you could be screwed.
Your company's IP is stored on a third-party server that's shared with thousands of other programmers outside the company. Who says it's secure? Sure it uses ssh, but that's only securing the connection. Who says it's still secure on the servers?
Keeping it all in-house means you have control over it. Don't want to upgrade? You don't have to!
You're not dependent on the Internet for access to your own source code. What if your ISP's router dies? Besides, the internal network is much faster.
People are arrested and spend days in jail before the matter of their guilt is resolved all the time. That's what the police do every day: when they think so one has committed a crime, they arrest him. The alternative is to let the person go free, and chances are he'll disappear.
Pharmaceutical companies spend more money on marketing than they do on R&D. I don't have a source for that information I can quote, but I did read it on a news site a few weeks ago.
Don't you see that the more integration there is between the apps and the desktop environment, the fewer choices you will have?
No, actually I don't see that. Integration is always an option (unless you're Microsoft). What I want is for every application I install to give me the option to create icons on the desktop. Even if the app forces the icon, a quick drag to the trashcan will solve that problem. This is how every other OS works, and it's something that is expected of a desktop operating system. If we could make a Top-10 list of things Linux needs to be accepted as a contender to Windows for the desktop OS, this item would be on that list.
I suspect there are significantly more Windows desktop users than there are Linux desktop users, thus your argument holds exactly ZERO weight. Better luck next time!
Yes, I agree with you that X is far behind other OS GUI's in terms of easy-of-configuration. Even OS/2 has it beat. I'm running RedHat 7.1 with KDE, and I can't see any way to change the resolution or color depth via a control panel. Of course, the fact that there are about a dozen different control panels, each one looking different, doesn't help. The mouse problem you mention is probably more of a problem with the Linux kernel than with X, as I think the kernel is what provides mouse support.
Did you know that OS/2 now supports changing video cards without reconfiguration at all? That's right, all you do is shutdown the computer, replace the video card, and turn it back on again. It will automatically work, without needing to install/uninstall anything or even tell it what video card it is. Why can't Linux do that?
Open Source isn't about standardization, its about choices.
I think most people would disagree with you. Part of the power of Open Source is that it promotes following standards. If the source code to your program is freely available to everyone, you can't "protect" your "intellectual property" by adding proprietary interfaces, which is what companies like Microsoft like to do. And if your program is GPL'd, then you can cut/paste any other GPL code out there, so there's an incentive to use other people's work, if it's compatible.
It's much easier to delete icons than it is to add them. Besides, it can always be made an option. Most OS/2 programs give you the choice, so Linux programs can do the same thing.
I don't like icons cluttering my desktop either, which is why I don't let them clutter my desktop. They are organized in directories.
It's ironic that you speak of choices as being a strength of Unix, but you don't want people to have the choice of installing icons. Not only that, but having lots of choices is a good only when these choices give you total leverage. For instance, if most of the GUI apps I want to use have integration with KDE but not GNOME, then GNOME isn't much of a choice any more. In such cases, the lack of choice of other platforms is becomes a benefit, not a drawback.
If we did, GEM (for those of you old enough to remember what it was) and OS/2 would be competing with Windows.
It's funny you should say that, because one of the reasons I prefer OS/2 over Linux is because of its GUI. The WorkPlace Shell is powerful, attractive, consistent, and still light years ahead of anything else today. Almost every OS/2 application has some integration with the desktop. I can't say the same about Linux. Most Linux GUI apps don't add icons or menu items to my desktop, because there are just too many different desktops (GNOME, KDE, whatever), and it's just too hard to support them all.
And it's not like this is a hard problem to solve. All you need to do is define a standard for adding icons and menu items, and then incorporate that standard into every desktop environment. But of course, all of the Linux desktop developers are too busy competing against each other to work together and solve to a common problem. Until that changes, Linux will never have a chance at winning the desktop.
Why does children really need to know how to program anything?
The problem with our society today is that the list of things that children don't "need to know" is far greater than the list of things that they do need to know. For some reason, it's normal to think that stuff like physics, foreign languages, and computer literacy are optional. Children should be knowledgeable in a wide range of topics, regardless of whether they plan on using that knowledge in a career.
would you deny your kids a driver's license until they could rebuild the engine or change brake pads, and not allow them to use common household appliances until they show they can take apart and repair that microwave oven, TV, hi-fi, etc?
Slashdot Mirror
It allows AL to be a bit mask.
Why are all of you geeks are so surprised when non-geeks have a misconception about technology? If everyone knew as much about technology as we did, then everyone would be a geek!
The way you fix this is not by posting on Slashdot. Instead, you should be educating your neighbors and your elected officials. Write them letters or talk to them. Tell them in plain language that the filters are not effective.
Although I suspect it will be edited, the Cartoon Network is premiering Cowboy Bebop tonight at midnight (Eastern time).
I remember hearing from some IBM executives that there were lots of big companies that had switched from OS/2 to Windows, and then needed IBM's help to switch back to OS/2. Unfortunately, in every case, part of the agreement to switch back to OS/2 was that IBM didn't tell anyone about it. After all, would you want people to know that your much-publicized conversion to Windows was a huge waste of time and money?
I've heard plenty of stories of OS/2 Warp Server doing the same thing. The above article may have been glamourized a bit, but I think it's quite believeable.
x86 != Xfree86
It's not worth the effort. Video hardware is immensely complicated. A Linux video driver programmer could add support for 10 other chips in the time it would to reverse-engineer the Windows drivers.
I don't want to work twice as many hours, moron! I'm just saying that if I needed to, I could.
Sorry, but that's just not true. I like my job a lot, but I can't stand the cubicle I'm usually in. For the past couple weeks, I've been working off-site, and I have a very nice office. I can easily work TWICE as many hours in the day now.
Unfortunately, there is no such standard. I don't even know of any attempt to make such a standard. Each boot loader does it differently.
Clerk's Office
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
I'm going to verify the address tomorrow, but in the meantime, I suggest that everyone write her a letter informing her of this issue. Tell her that any remedy she proposes for Microsoft must address the bootloader issue. Be sure to tell her, in simple terms, what this issue really is. Include the URL to the Byte article so that she can read more about it.
It's the Siamese cat from the James Bond movies.
They're the same thing. Some people call it a Digital Video Recorder, others call it a Personal Video Recorder.
The irony in all this is that "Merlin" was the code-name for OS/2 Warp 4, which was the first desktop OS to include speech recognition technology. How can these people be so ignorant of history?
I can't imagine any company wanting to use Sourceforge off-site. Think of the risks:
People are arrested and spend days in jail before the matter of their guilt is resolved all the time. That's what the police do every day: when they think so one has committed a crime, they arrest him. The alternative is to let the person go free, and chances are he'll disappear.
Pharmaceutical companies spend more money on marketing than they do on R&D. I don't have a source for that information I can quote, but I did read it on a news site a few weeks ago.
No, actually I don't see that. Integration is always an option (unless you're Microsoft). What I want is for every application I install to give me the option to create icons on the desktop. Even if the app forces the icon, a quick drag to the trashcan will solve that problem. This is how every other OS works, and it's something that is expected of a desktop operating system. If we could make a Top-10 list of things Linux needs to be accepted as a contender to Windows for the desktop OS, this item would be on that list.
I suspect there are significantly more Windows desktop users than there are Linux desktop users, thus your argument holds exactly ZERO weight. Better luck next time!
Did you know that OS/2 now supports changing video cards without reconfiguration at all? That's right, all you do is shutdown the computer, replace the video card, and turn it back on again. It will automatically work, without needing to install/uninstall anything or even tell it what video card it is. Why can't Linux do that?
I think most people would disagree with you. Part of the power of Open Source is that it promotes following standards. If the source code to your program is freely available to everyone, you can't "protect" your "intellectual property" by adding proprietary interfaces, which is what companies like Microsoft like to do. And if your program is GPL'd, then you can cut/paste any other GPL code out there, so there's an incentive to use other people's work, if it's compatible.
I don't like icons cluttering my desktop either, which is why I don't let them clutter my desktop. They are organized in directories.
It's ironic that you speak of choices as being a strength of Unix, but you don't want people to have the choice of installing icons. Not only that, but having lots of choices is a good only when these choices give you total leverage. For instance, if most of the GUI apps I want to use have integration with KDE but not GNOME, then GNOME isn't much of a choice any more. In such cases, the lack of choice of other platforms is becomes a benefit, not a drawback.
It's funny you should say that, because one of the reasons I prefer OS/2 over Linux is because of its GUI. The WorkPlace Shell is powerful, attractive, consistent, and still light years ahead of anything else today. Almost every OS/2 application has some integration with the desktop. I can't say the same about Linux. Most Linux GUI apps don't add icons or menu items to my desktop, because there are just too many different desktops (GNOME, KDE, whatever), and it's just too hard to support them all.
And it's not like this is a hard problem to solve. All you need to do is define a standard for adding icons and menu items, and then incorporate that standard into every desktop environment. But of course, all of the Linux desktop developers are too busy competing against each other to work together and solve to a common problem. Until that changes, Linux will never have a chance at winning the desktop.
The problem with our society today is that the list of things that children don't "need to know" is far greater than the list of things that they do need to know. For some reason, it's normal to think that stuff like physics, foreign languages, and computer literacy are optional. Children should be knowledgeable in a wide range of topics, regardless of whether they plan on using that knowledge in a career.
Actually, that's not such a bad idea. Thanks!