Of all people, Forbes' heavyweight Dan Linux-is-for-terrorists Lyons has tuned into RMS wavelength... and given us a welcome preview of what the founder of GNU really wants to give us, loyal FS users:... Free Beer!... Just when everybody had been misled during all these years, into believing it was all about such a pointless thing as Free Choice (!): it looks like we'll be getting something useful, after all! --Thanks Dan, for spreading the word!
I admit to have secretly hoped, for a while, that the GPLv3 might do more than safeguard us from the hated DRM and the Dark Side of the Force (the "Trusted" Computing conspiracy), while perpetuating the brave Copyleft statement that guards y'all's sourcecode from the greedy codegrabbers in Redmond, Washington... Of course, I've been wishing to FINALLY be offered what should REALLY make one happy, i.e., what FS users REALLY deserve after many a long day's work of coding & compiling: Free Beer * !!
* No!, I don't mean it in the old warez sense, so mundane as "free of charge" software applications. I mean Free brew as in draught as in cerveza, as in Miller Time, or, Whassuuuuppaaaahhh!
We already know RMS's Free Software deal, and so far it's really been nothing more than a mere lousy Free Choice (yawn!): all soo nice, but, WHY EVER do we need all that Free Choice?? -if out of the 500-plus PKG's we install there's really only a dozen software packages we'll actually ever use (the odd browser for watching funny videos and writing in "/.", or, the odd BX, Jabber & other addictive programs with which to cheat on our imaginary girlfriends...). WORST OF ALL, we poor wretches only ever get to know Free Software: so if -when- the code breaks up (usually because of our uncontrollable hacker instincts) we are subtly expected to actually give up all our spare time and to fix it, in stead of comfortably blame someone else who never shared his crummy code!!
A typical user of proprietary software must be envied as a much higher lifeform, by all of Discovery Channel's criteria as in observing groups of mammals interacting: he or she will often be uncomplicated, self-actualized, and even have REAL DATES on Friday night!
So what could -should- set the score right for us, Free Software users, what we really deserve after all we've suffered while studying, downloading and compiling all of that RMS' Freedom into our overclocked computer systems that (unfortunately) never break down to give us a breather... :
is Free Beer !!!
Oh, and about... Linus Torvalds (now there's a man who ought to drink more beer, by the way!)... Maybe Linus doesn't get out of his Ivory Tower often enough to have caught on about [1]; how GPLv3 by no means could impede the use of any previous code if all "old licence" contributors have been referenced in due accordance (-NB- only new code requires such rigorous GPLv3 involvement from all links in the chain), and [2]; in no way will it impede the use of any of the Repositories that people rely on for downloading their software. So naturally the v3 code can peacefully coexist with v2 code, anarchical BSD code, or what have you... It's not that old Linus would have to decline the v3 licence, on any grounds, I rather see many reasons that he should celebrate it --with RMS, over a tasty Free Beer, if for nothing but for all the right reasons in the world...
It is, too! How I long for the days that I could slump on the sofa, pull my dirty socks up, open a 6-pack and watch StarTrek. Now, ever since the Cornell study hit/.... my life is like over!! Next thing, this might even mean more children, or, even a grey Volvo station car!
But seriously, those people from Cornell ought to think before they publish stuff: think about all those Happy Homes they may be breaking up because of their study, implying TV does us so much "damage" !!
I have a hyperactive 15,5 months' old daughter. The ONLY thing that can keep her distracted for the odd 7-10 minutes (give Dads a break) is watching the TV commercials: maybe for their music, the colors, the agitated voices, or -I suspect- some vile subliminal messages put there by ad agencies that must awaken the latent shopping instinct in young females!
NOW WHAT AM I TO DO with this 33" tall, 2-legged and 8-fisted professional demolition crew, who runs around the house, Roadrunner and Coyote in one, while only breaking stuff (she's really *into* laptop computers, packs of Camel filters, GSM phones and Daddy's clean socks...), now that TV has become a No-No -????- Heeelp!!! ......
Now I can't refrain from thinking... So maybe autism isn't such a bad thing? I mean, the RainMan guy did quite a job for himself in Las Vegas, didn't he?
But seriously: I'm worried about the TV thing, like any Dad would be. It can't be a surprise that I want only the best for my little girl, so here's some serious doubts coming into play. What if TV were really a threat to her growing up a healthy and smart individual, do sports, get her degree (out of spite I now say: not bloody likely at Cornell!) and be Happy?
When I turn on the TV set for her --and there's hell to pay if I don't-- (she watches about 1,5 hours a day, listening -while playing- to another 2...), I really do it to entertain her, to keep her mind busy.
Maybe it's time I taught her the Noble Art of Slashdotting ?? She's been ramming away on her own (Acer mechanical) keyboard for some time now, not only to give Daddy's poor Pbook a break, but she's showing true talent...
Would you guys like to get your comments moderated by a 15,5 months old?...
Never have I been prouder of my (very) old Sun machines nor of my IRC nicks (DrSolaris, docSunny) than on this day. No longer do I need to feel ashamed for running Sun's own OS on SPARC, where it kicks root... and having to spend 2 minutes excusing and explaining myself at Free Software events. Sun, you made my day!
I've cancelled my appointments for the afternoon and given my date for the evening a No honey, not tonight: I have a headache! -> and I intend to have one, too!! While ritually installing S-10 in a couple of Ultra's and a E3500 (and writing this comment in/.), I'm already halfway thru a bottle of Jack D from Tennessee, celebrating...
Well, of course, not too exuberantly: maybe, just maybe, as someone with a sense of humour already commented above these lines those awful codewar-mongers at SCO are now going thru every single line of Solaris code to see if they might claim a few trillion or zillion dollars! And Sun has been so permissive with M$ on Java issues, maybe they let the big bad wolf in among the sheep (...) ?? RMS, the man, told me recently that they're nothing to worry about (at least, nothing compared to the EU software patents situation, see here), but... As long as SCO and their none too saintly part-owner M$FT are "out there" playing their fuzzy games and trying to scare the Free Software community (confusing aspiring or new adopters), I'll not bat an eyelid. Freedom is still a fragile thing, it would seem, and needs continually to be defended!
No sleep for the weary... but we can cautiously celebrate another little milestone, today! So have a Sunny day, y'all, and please help me free some of the content of my bottles of liquor in a toast to Sun:):)
"...but you'll have to profess a passion for Windows first."
Reading this, I wondered: does occasionally emulating m$ windows (in FreeBSD and Linux using wine, or in Darwin using Virtual PC) * count as professing a passion??
* = so to show my most often desperate clients the unstability and easy breeching of their hopelessly cracked, trojaned and wormed Windows PCs.
Naturally, I do appreciate Windows: thanks to Billy's screw-ups, I earn money!! Often asked to fix what MS have ruined, my company offers remedy through UNIX/Unix-like Free Software alternatives that need no Service Packs or defective, force-sold Plug-ins.
BUT so likely I'd miss out on the lifetime opportunity of Meeting MSFT's Chairman... Appreciation isn't quite the same as passion.
And I wondered, what is passion, then? I decided to look it up in wikipedia.org. The online encyclopedia's definition of passion is unequivocal and crystal-clear. According to the first paragraph of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion
"The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The "Passion narratives" tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context."
In other words, to profess a passion for Windows is to suffer and Agonize and be crucified (sic). I deduct from this that the road to martyrdom is marred by cloudy skies with Flying Windows hovering over one's head, and daily listening to The Microsoft Sound is equivalent to listening to the thunder over Mount Golgotha and the wailing of one's sad followers, as heard by Jesus of Nazareth when he hung at the cross, 4 nails tearing at his flesh and blood gushing out of his ribs where a lance had struck him. What an ordeal!
Well, our man J.C. already made his Sacrifice, some W2k years ago - the Gospels say he did it for All of us.
So please forgive me, Bill, for not wanting to repeat that experience and preferring to save myself the agony of Passion. And forgive me, Bill, for rendering cult to Other Icons, such as the pagan Solar symbols of Sun, the Antarctic animal god Tux and that foul Prince, FreeBSD's merry Daemon...
"...but you'll have to profess a passion for Windows first."
Reading this, I wondered: does occasionally emulating m$ windows (in FreeBSD and Linux using wine, or in Darwin using Virtual PC) * count as professing a passion??
* = so to show my most often desperate clients the unstability and easy breeching of their hopelessly cracked, trojaned and wormed Windows PCs.
Naturally, I do appreciate Windows: thanks to Billy's screw-ups, I earn money!! Often asked to fix what MS have ruined, my company offers remedy through UNIX/Unix-like Free Software alternatives that need no Service Packs or defective, force-sold Plug-ins.
BUT so likely I'd miss out on the lifetime opportunity of Meeting MSFT's Chairman... Appreciation isn't quite the same as passion.
And I wondered, what is passion, then? I decided to look it up in wikipedia.org. The online encyclopedia's definition of passion is unequivocal and crystal-clear. According to the first paragraph of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion
"The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The "Passion narratives" tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context."
In other words, to profess a passion for Windows is to suffer and Agonize and be crucified (sic). I deduct from this that the road to martyrdom is marred by cloudy skies with Flying Windows hovering over one's head, and daily listening to The Microsoft Sound is equivalent to listening to the thunder over Mount Golgotha and the wailing of one's sad followers, as heard by Jesus of Nazareth when he hung at the cross, 4 nails tearing at his flesh and blood gushing out of his ribs where a lance had struck him. What an ordeal!
Well, our man J.C. already made his Sacrifice, some W2k years ago - the Gospels say he did it for All of us.
So please forgive me, Bill, for not wanting to repeat that experience and preferring to save myself the agony of Passion. And forgive me, Bill, for rendering cult to Other Icons, such as the pagan Solar symbols of Sun and that foul Prince, FreeBSD's merry Daemon...
...non vi sed saepe cadendo.
- or so I hope: that the little drops of water of our opinions may hollow the O's in gOOgle by slowly cutting through the bedrock.
Don't fix it if it ain't Error 404!
I suspect that some of Google's decide&do-crowd are Slashdotters, will read these comments, and prove to be sensitive to the opinions of their fellow Net browsers.
Glancing at the previous comments, I note that most of us prefer the uncluttered aspect of the search engine's Status Quo to the proposed kind of offer-it-all Portal: as do I. Presumably,/. is primarily populated by an experienced and therefore rather demanding type of Internet user. Some of us may use text browsers (lynx), have slow machines (retro rlz!) or slow connections: many of us have reasons beyond mere appreciation for valuing the speed and easy use of Google's search engine.
If we prefer the uncluttered, fast-loading and fast-handling Google we've been used to (some of us, for as long as Google's IP has been returning pings), I can only presume that less experienced and less demanding Internet users, hardly likely to suddenly wish to navigate through a labyrinth of links, chunks of text, images and what-have-you, should prefer the same.
I hope * at google dot com will read these here comments, and know how to interpret them for Google's best interest.
From the heart, Google: a KISS * !! Keep It Simple......
Good to see they're back in the race, coming up with something serious - and Thanks, Oracle! for being a tough competitor providing a solid standard to keep up with.
PostgreSQL is, in my opinion, the most presentable of not-too-much-$ database solutions, I sure like to present clients with a new version of P rather than the crummy image of MySQL (by no means an inferior product but not profiled in the same, serious way).
Ah and let's see how it runs on Mac OS/X - Darwin, too. Maybe my little 12" will become all the more a p0w4hful tool because of it - and it had better, I haven't paid the thing off, yet!...
Slashdot Mirror
Of all people, Forbes' heavyweight Dan Linux-is-for-terrorists Lyons has tuned into RMS wavelength ... and given us a welcome preview of what the founder of GNU really wants to give us, loyal FS users: ... Free Beer! ...
... Of course, I've been wishing to FINALLY be offered what should REALLY make one happy, i.e., what FS users REALLY deserve after many a long day's work of coding & compiling: Free Beer * !!
... Linus Torvalds (now there's a man who ought to drink more beer, by the way!) ...
Just when everybody had been misled during all these years, into believing it was all about such a pointless thing as Free Choice (!): it looks like we'll be getting something useful, after all! --Thanks Dan, for spreading the word!
I admit to have secretly hoped, for a while, that the GPLv3 might do more than safeguard us from the hated DRM and the Dark Side of the Force (the "Trusted" Computing conspiracy), while perpetuating the brave Copyleft statement that guards y'all's sourcecode from the greedy codegrabbers in Redmond, Washington
* No!, I don't mean it in the old warez sense, so mundane as "free of charge" software applications. I mean Free brew as in draught as in cerveza, as in Miller Time, or, Whassuuuuppaaaahhh!
We already know RMS's Free Software deal, and so far it's really been nothing more than a mere lousy Free Choice (yawn!): all soo nice, but, WHY EVER do we need all that Free Choice?? -if out of the 500-plus PKG's we install there's really only a dozen software packages we'll actually ever use (the odd browser for watching funny videos and writing in "/.", or, the odd BX, Jabber & other addictive programs with which to cheat on our imaginary girlfriends...).
WORST OF ALL, we poor wretches only ever get to know Free Software: so if -when- the code breaks up (usually because of our uncontrollable hacker instincts) we are subtly expected to actually give up all our spare time and to fix it, in stead of comfortably blame someone else who never shared his crummy code!!
A typical user of proprietary software must be envied as a much higher lifeform, by all of Discovery Channel's criteria as in observing groups of mammals interacting: he or she will often be uncomplicated, self-actualized, and even have REAL DATES on Friday night!
So what could -should- set the score right for us, Free Software users, what we really deserve after all we've suffered while studying, downloading and compiling all of that RMS' Freedom into our overclocked computer systems that (unfortunately) never break down to give us a breather... :
is Free Beer !!!
Oh, and about
Maybe Linus doesn't get out of his Ivory Tower often enough to have caught on about [1]; how GPLv3 by no means could impede the use of any previous code if all "old licence" contributors have been referenced in due accordance (-NB- only new code requires such rigorous GPLv3 involvement from all links in the chain), and [2]; in no way will it impede the use of any of the Repositories that people rely on for downloading their software.
So naturally the v3 code can peacefully coexist with v2 code, anarchical BSD code, or what have you... It's not that old Linus would have to decline the v3 licence, on any grounds, I rather see many reasons that he should celebrate it --with RMS, over a tasty Free Beer, if for nothing but for all the right reasons in the world...
It is, too! /. ... my life is like over!!
...
...
How I long for the days that I could slump on the sofa, pull my dirty socks up, open a 6-pack and watch StarTrek. Now, ever since the Cornell study hit
Next thing, this might even mean more children, or, even a grey Volvo station car!
But seriously, those people from Cornell ought to think before they publish stuff: think about all those Happy Homes they may be breaking up because of their study, implying TV does us so much "damage" !!
I have a hyperactive 15,5 months' old daughter. The ONLY thing that can keep her distracted for the odd 7-10 minutes (give Dads a break) is watching the TV commercials: maybe for their music, the colors, the agitated voices, or -I suspect- some vile subliminal messages put there by ad agencies that must awaken the latent shopping instinct in young females!
NOW WHAT AM I TO DO with this 33" tall, 2-legged and 8-fisted professional demolition crew, who runs around the house, Roadrunner and Coyote in one, while only breaking stuff (she's really *into* laptop computers, packs of Camel filters, GSM phones and Daddy's clean socks...), now that TV has become a No-No -????- Heeelp!!!
...
Now I can't refrain from thinking... So maybe autism isn't such a bad thing? I mean, the RainMan guy did quite a job for himself in Las Vegas, didn't he?
But seriously: I'm worried about the TV thing, like any Dad would be. It can't be a surprise that I want only the best for my little girl, so here's some serious doubts coming into play. What if TV were really a threat to her growing up a healthy and smart individual, do sports, get her degree (out of spite I now say: not bloody likely at Cornell!) and be Happy?
When I turn on the TV set for her --and there's hell to pay if I don't-- (she watches about 1,5 hours a day, listening -while playing- to another 2...), I really do it to entertain her, to keep her mind busy.
Maybe it's time I taught her the Noble Art of Slashdotting ?? She's been ramming away on her own (Acer mechanical) keyboard for some time now, not only to give Daddy's poor Pbook a break, but she's showing true talent...
Would you guys like to get your comments moderated by a 15,5 months old?
A ray of Sunlight, coming at the right time
/.), I'm already halfway thru a bottle of Jack D from Tennessee, celebrating...
:):)
Never have I been prouder of my (very) old Sun machines nor of my IRC nicks (DrSolaris, docSunny) than on this day. No longer do I need to feel ashamed for running Sun's own OS on SPARC, where it kicks root... and having to spend 2 minutes excusing and explaining myself at Free Software events. Sun, you made my day!
I've cancelled my appointments for the afternoon and given my date for the evening a No honey, not tonight: I have a headache! -> and I intend to have one, too!! While ritually installing S-10 in a couple of Ultra's and a E3500 (and writing this comment in
Well, of course, not too exuberantly: maybe, just maybe, as someone with a sense of humour already commented above these lines those awful codewar-mongers at SCO are now going thru every single line of Solaris code to see if they might claim a few trillion or zillion dollars! And Sun has been so permissive with M$ on Java issues, maybe they let the big bad wolf in among the sheep (...) ??
RMS, the man, told me recently that they're nothing to worry about (at least, nothing compared to the EU software patents situation, see here), but...
As long as SCO and their none too saintly part-owner M$FT are "out there" playing their fuzzy games and trying to scare the Free Software community (confusing aspiring or new adopters), I'll not bat an eyelid. Freedom is still a fragile thing, it would seem, and needs continually to be defended!
No sleep for the weary... but we can cautiously celebrate another little milestone, today!
So have a Sunny day, y'all, and please help me free some of the content of my bottles of liquor in a toast to Sun
Reading this, I wondered: does occasionally emulating m$ windows (in FreeBSD and Linux using wine, or in Darwin using Virtual PC) * count as professing a passion??
* = so to show my most often desperate clients the unstability and easy breeching of their hopelessly cracked, trojaned and wormed Windows PCs.
Naturally, I do appreciate Windows: thanks to Billy's screw-ups, I earn money!!
Often asked to fix what MS have ruined, my company offers remedy through UNIX/Unix-like Free Software alternatives that need no Service Packs or defective, force-sold Plug-ins.
BUT so likely I'd miss out on the lifetime opportunity of Meeting MSFT's Chairman... Appreciation isn't quite the same as passion.
And I wondered, what is passion, then? I decided to look it up in wikipedia.org.
The online encyclopedia's definition of passion is unequivocal and crystal-clear. According to the first paragraph of "The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The "Passion narratives" tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context."
In other words, to profess a passion for Windows is to suffer and Agonize and be crucified (sic) . I deduct from this that the road to martyrdom is marred by cloudy skies with Flying Windows hovering over one's head, and daily listening to The Microsoft Sound is equivalent to listening to the thunder over Mount Golgotha and the wailing of one's sad followers, as heard by Jesus of Nazareth when he hung at the cross, 4 nails tearing at his flesh and blood gushing out of his ribs where a lance had struck him. What an ordeal!
Well, our man J.C. already made his Sacrifice, some W2k years ago - the Gospels say he did it for All of us.
So please forgive me, Bill, for not wanting to repeat that experience and preferring to save myself the agony of Passion. And forgive me, Bill, for rendering cult to Other Icons, such as the pagan Solar symbols of Sun, the Antarctic animal god Tux and that foul Prince, FreeBSD's merry Daemon...
Reading this, I wondered: does occasionally emulating m$ windows (in FreeBSD and Linux using wine, or in Darwin using Virtual PC) * count as professing a passion??
* = so to show my most often desperate clients the unstability and easy breeching of their hopelessly cracked, trojaned and wormed Windows PCs.
Naturally, I do appreciate Windows: thanks to Billy's screw-ups, I earn money!!
Often asked to fix what MS have ruined, my company offers remedy through UNIX/Unix-like Free Software alternatives that need no Service Packs or defective, force-sold Plug-ins.
BUT so likely I'd miss out on the lifetime opportunity of Meeting MSFT's Chairman... Appreciation isn't quite the same as passion.
And I wondered, what is passion, then? I decided to look it up in wikipedia.org.
The online encyclopedia's definition of passion is unequivocal and crystal-clear. According to the first paragraph of "The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. The "Passion narratives" tell this story in the Gospels. The etymological origins of this meaning of the word lie in the Latin passio that first appears in the 2nd century, precisely to describe the travails and suffering of Jesus in this present context."
In other words, to profess a passion for Windows is to suffer and Agonize and be crucified (sic) . I deduct from this that the road to martyrdom is marred by cloudy skies with Flying Windows hovering over one's head, and daily listening to The Microsoft Sound is equivalent to listening to the thunder over Mount Golgotha and the wailing of one's sad followers, as heard by Jesus of Nazareth when he hung at the cross, 4 nails tearing at his flesh and blood gushing out of his ribs where a lance had struck him. What an ordeal!
Well, our man J.C. already made his Sacrifice, some W2k years ago - the Gospels say he did it for All of us.
So please forgive me, Bill, for not wanting to repeat that experience and preferring to save myself the agony of Passion. And forgive me, Bill, for rendering cult to Other Icons, such as the pagan Solar symbols of Sun and that foul Prince, FreeBSD's merry Daemon...
...non vi sed saepe cadendo. - or so I hope: that the little drops of water of our opinions may hollow the O's in gOOgle by slowly cutting through the bedrock.
/. is primarily populated by an experienced and therefore rather demanding type of Internet user. Some of us may use text browsers (lynx), have slow machines (retro rlz!) or slow connections: many of us have reasons beyond mere appreciation for valuing the speed and easy use of Google's search engine.
......
Don't fix it if it ain't Error 404!
I suspect that some of Google's decide&do-crowd are Slashdotters, will read these comments, and prove to be sensitive to the opinions of their fellow Net browsers.
Glancing at the previous comments, I note that most of us prefer the uncluttered aspect of the search engine's Status Quo to the proposed kind of offer-it-all Portal: as do I.
Presumably,
If we prefer the uncluttered, fast-loading and fast-handling Google we've been used to (some of us, for as long as Google's IP has been returning pings), I can only presume that less experienced and less demanding Internet users, hardly likely to suddenly wish to navigate through a labyrinth of links, chunks of text, images and what-have-you, should prefer the same.
I hope * at google dot com will read these here comments, and know how to interpret them for Google's best interest.
From the heart, Google: a KISS * !! Keep It Simple
Good to see they're back in the race, coming up with something serious - and Thanks, Oracle! for being a tough competitor providing a solid standard to keep up with. PostgreSQL is, in my opinion, the most presentable of not-too-much-$ database solutions, I sure like to present clients with a new version of P rather than the crummy image of MySQL (by no means an inferior product but not profiled in the same, serious way). Ah and let's see how it runs on Mac OS/X - Darwin, too. Maybe my little 12" will become all the more a p0w4hful tool because of it - and it had better, I haven't paid the thing off, yet! ...