I never have understood much of the global climate debate. It's not the science or politics that I don't understand, it's the debate itself.
The disagreement is on the weight to assign to natural and human causes. Worse, activists on both sides try to pretend that it is *all* human activity or *all* natural causes. In my opinion, whether the cause is primarily human, or natural, it is pretty much a done deal.
This is the idea that confuses me the most. If someone is in a burning house, do they stand around debating on whether it was arson or lightning? Or do they try to do something to improve their odds of survival?
Personally, I think it's high time that people in power take a long, hard look at the problem and give us some options that might improve our odds of survival. Enough of this pointless bickering over who or what is to blame.
Although IBM was incorporated in the state of New York on June 15, 1911 as the Computing- Tabulating- Recording Company (C-T-R), its origins can be traced back to developments at the close of the 19th century. For example, the first dial recorder was invented by Dr. Alexander Dey in 1888, and Dey's business became one of the building blocks of C-T-R. Similarly, the Bundy Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1889 as the first time recording company in the world, and it, too, later became a key component of C-T-R.
IIRC you couldn't have low and high voltage in the same gang box according to the NEC (National Electrical Code - USA), which is unfortunate as that would be the obvious way to get wall current and convert it to low voltage which is apparently a NO NO.
I did a quick Google for the National Electrical Code. However, all I could find were commercial sites that had it for sale. Talk about closed standards. Could someone quote the relevant sections or a link where they could be looked up? I ask because I recently added a small work bench to a utility room. I replaced the original gang box with a double gang box with AC power on one side and cat-5 on the other. There is a plastic divider between the two that was sold at Home Depot for just this purpose.
A couple of years ago my wife wanted to check her e-mail on my office computer. It was the only system in my network that ran Linux. I had some programs running and didn't want to give up the display. I started up evolution under kdesu and the program came up flawlessly. She had all her contacts, e-mail, etc available on my desktop.
A little latter she asked if we could do the same thing on her computer because the kids were logged in and playing games. Sure I said, Windows has RunAs... We tried Outlook under RunAs and Outlook crashed complaining about not having access to the registry. I said sorry, Windows isn't a multi-user system like Linux.
Morel of the story: Out of 10 computers in the house, one still dual-boots to XP for certain video games. My wife demanded multi-user capability and insisted on Linux. Who was I to say no?:)
Not everybody wants to live like a gerbil in a cage, packed in with hundreds of other gerbils. The reason that people buy big houses with lawns and SUV's is that it's a more enjoyable lifestyle.
I couldn't agree more. I spent ten years living in apartments. Ten years of tip-toeing around my apartment at night so I didn't disturb the people below me. Ten years dealing with the kids upstairs screaming, bouncing balls, or whatever else they could come up with to make noise. Sure it was within walking distance of public transportation. Ever bring home two weeks of groceries for a family of 5 on a bus? As for landscaping, most of the complexes I've lived in had a nice park-like environment around them. It was kept that way by over-watering. They had beautiful floral gardens that were routinely ripped up and replanted whenever the majority of the plants lost their flowers.
Now I own a home in the suburbs. I drive twenty minutes to work (no bus service to my place of employment, so this didn't really change). I have two grocery stores within walking distance. I can make a reasonable amount of noise without disturbing my neighbors, and they can do the same. I have a nice lawn planted with low-water grass. The vegetable garden and small orchard I now enjoy were not allowed at the complex.
Now looking around and seeing how environmentalists prefer to have natural resources managed, I can see why they want everyone to live in concrete blocks that are stacked one on top of the next. There are several natural public areas surrounding the area where I live. You have to pay a fee to gain entrance to these areas. This is in addition to the taxes I pay to support them. Once inside, you are only allowed to use the provided facilities. Going outside of the pre-built camping areas is highly discouraged and a ranger will tell you to go back. I have to drive about 200 miles before I can find a natural area with public access where I can go camping in a natural setting.
If the environmentalists had their way, we would all be living underground in caves and visits to the surface would be forbidden for fear of disturbing nature.
I can't say much about TurboTax. I have an accountant (who incidentally uses Linux).
However, I've found Doom3 works just great without Wine/Cedega. In fact, I'd say the native Linux version runs better (under Linux) than the native Windows version (under XP).
I have to agree, though not really with the choices you list.
I've run SuSE since 6.2 and Gentoo for a year or so. One of the things I really like about SuSE is that it's easy to try out several competing applications.
Where I get a bit confused at times is libraries and frameworks. I'd love to find a good Web site that doesn't just list a generic description (like most project pages seem to), but rather compares competing libraries. I'd like to know if there is a good reason I should tell a configure script to use library x instead of library y. I've found most programmers seem to get a little miffed if you ask them why you should use their library.
On the contrary, in the GPL sense, I see open source as capitalistic.
You code an application and release it under GPL. A corporation finds the code useful, but wants a certain feature.
At that point they either pay you (the original developer) money to implement the feature, or implement it themselves and pay you with new code and an enhanced application.
This was one of the main reasons I left Comcast (that and putting download caps on newsgroups). Comcast "High-Speed" is a marketing hoax. Sure, they provide the advertised bandwidth. That keeps it legal. However, their EULA forbids you from using any of it. Comcast sees the Internet as a new and better way to provide cable TV. It's better for them because access to the service can be based on username and MAC ID. It prevents people from stealing cable service. E-mail and Web browsing are just extras to entice people to sign up.
Napster was there before iTunes, and the idea of free music is now forever ingrained into the social consciousness of on-line culture.
Funny, for me it was radio that ingrained the idea of free music into my consciousness. Sure, its ad supported. However, I still get all the free music I want right out of thin air.
I just realized that I listed the USPO instead of the USPS in my last question. Stupid acronyms. Just in case I got it wrong again, I'm referring to the United States Postal Service.
I have some basic, though probably stupid, questions regarding the legality of P2P software. There are several points I simply do not understand.
Say I set up a script that randomly scans IP addresses for FTP servers, attempts to login anonymously, and downloads a file listing. If I then put the IP address and file listing in a publicly accessible database, am I liable if that FTP server happens to have pirated materials?
If P2P file sharing is made illegal, will that make Microsoft Windows for Workgroups style file sharing illegal as well? It is after all a P2P protocol that I frequently use to move MP3 files between computers.
And finally, being a person who hates laws that only apply to computers when there are real-world equivalents, if I am an artist who finds out that my artwork is being regularly distributed via the USPO against my wishes; can I sue or bring charges against the USPO? I wonder how often the USPO is used to distribute illegal items.
I guess my confusion stems from the fact that P2P networks have been around as long as networks have existed (and I not just talking about computer networks). What technology exactly do they want to make illegal?
Opps, I checked the spelling and not the dates... The Atari Portfolio was introduced in 1989. Somewhere I have an old issue of Compute! with an advertisement in it.
An interesting article. Unfortunately, I found it to be very lacking. In 1992, I was a dirt poor college student. Strapped for cash, but needing a computer, I bought a KayPro portable computer. It had a 10MB hard drive and ran MS-DOS. Total cost at the time was $100.00 used. It was the first DOS-based computer I owned.
It's also sad that the Atari Portfolio wasn't mentioned. I'm not sure when it actually sold (sometime between 1997 and 1989). However, at 15.87 ounces with batteries and running a DOS compatible operating system, I'd say this piece of technology should stand out! A bit of notoriety: It was used in Terminator 2 when John Connor hacked an ATM. Full specs can be found at old-computers.com with a nice blurb at atarimuseum.com
Yes. It's one of the things I really miss from MS Office. Of course I never used it in-line. Rather, I'd run it after finishing the document. It kept me from sounding too much like an idiot. It also helped improve my writing skills. After all, the fewer mistakes I made in the first place, the less time it took to correct. As for pointless suggestions, it's easy to ignore them.
I've used HP printers for years. However, when replacement ink began to cost more than a new printer, I decided to switch brands.
The first thing I did when deciding on a brand was to go to the local supply store and price compare the ink. At the time Epson ink was cheap, it worked with Linux, and the quality was good. I bought an Epson.
I never have considered a Lexmark. Silly-putty gives you better printing quality.
I've no idea why this was modded Troll. Seems like a perfectly good idea that I'd like to see done. Short CG movies have been around forever and a lot of your b-rate 1950's movies were produced without a budget. Of course, you wont get any of those multi-million dollar actors. However, it would be a good way for unknowen's to get seen...
I generally find the self-checkout lanes much faster. The morons in my area tend to use the regular lanes and avoid self-checkout. The units I've used don't bother with audio unless you wait for them to talk. I do prefer the units that let you sign electronicly. What's the point of self-checkout if you have to wait for a cashier? My major complaint is that all of the stores in my area insist on turning the units off at 10PM. They seem to think it's better to have 30 people wait in line for the single cashier that works at night.
I've set up several OpenLDAP based directories now using the SuSE Pro version. I'm not sure why you would need the Enterprise version for this purpose. SuSE's Yast graphical configuration tool is a breeze to use and they patched the cli user admin tools to support LDAP. The only complaint I've had with Yast is that it insists on using the member attribute when creating or modifying group membership. I used the uniqueMember attribute when I set up my first directory and have used it since.
As for complaints about LDAP with Linux in general...
I've had problems with system groups when using different distributions as clients. Every distribution uses a different GID for any given system group. So you can't really put system groups in the directory (and it's bad security anyway). However, my users need to be members of audio, video, and sometimes games. I found a partial solution is using pam_group. However, the module doesn't seem to work with netgroups, so I have to add the users to pam_groups's configuration file (rather than assigning the users to the LDAP-based netgroup and using pam_group to assign system groups based on netgroup).
LDAP is definitely a work in progress under Linux, but I'd have to say that SuSE has made the most progress in implementing it.
Over the years, I've tried out several "3D" window and file managers. Most are just eye candy, though I applaud the effort. The base problem seems to be that computers are designed, from the ground up, two dimensionally.
In the DOS days, everything was dumped into a single directory. After a while, directory trees were developed to help organize the mess. Though a step in the right direction, directory trees are inherently two dimensional. About 1995, I started using UNIX (Solaris). One of the most interesting things I noticed was the three-dimensional aspect of the file layout. Off the root, you have everything needed to boot. Under/usr are all the programs a user might need. This sits on top of root. Linux took this a bit further and added/usr/local for user installed programs (not managed by the distribution).
Way back in the day, I belonged to several Citadel bulletin boards systems. The Citadel system consisted of subject based rooms where users could leave messages (similar to USENET). These rooms were then organized by floor. You could see all of the rooms on a floor and all of the floors on a system. If you were on the "Computers" floor, you might see rooms for Atari or IBM. However, you would need to go to the "Music" floor to see rooms for Classical or Rock.
I've often thought that such a system would benefit Linux and inspire a truly useful "3D" environment. All the files used by the system (but not the user or admin) could be put on the system floor. Files used by the admin, but not the user, would be on the admin floor. User's files would be on the user floor. You move between floors as your needs change. Need to add a user to the system? Drop to the admin floor and add them. Need to write that report? Jump up to the user floor and start writing. This fits in well with the current Linux layout while adding better organization and separation of roles. It also frames a "3D" environment.
An example...
Currently, most user specific settings are saved under/home/username along with documents and everything else. Most system settings are under/etc. Mounted devices (CD-ROM) are under/media/cdrom or/mnt/cdrom. User programs are under/usr/bin or/usr/local/bin or/opt/program-name or/home/bin. Administration programs are under/usr/sbin or/usr/local/sbin. System programs are under/sbin or/bin
In the floor system, user settings would be in [user]/etc. System-wide settings would be in [system]/etc. The CD-ROM could be mounted at [user]/mnt to restrict it to a single user, or [system]/mnt for system-wide access. User-specific programs would go under [user]/bin. System-wide user programs could go in [system]/bin. Administration programs might go in [admin]/bin and boot programs could go in [boot]/bin. You could even add [user]/documents, [system]/documents, and [daemon]/documents for individual user documents, system shared documents, and daemon specific documents (think/srv).
Obviously, floor organization would have to be thought out. However, the current system fits nicely on a per floor basis. Best of all, it makes security a breeze. You could restrict daemons to the [daemon] floor and users to the [user] floor. [system] could be setup on a read-only basis or with the directory sticky bit set. If something is needed between floors (passwd needs to be on the [user] and [admin] floor) you could create a link (ln command) between floors.
Well, to sum up my babbling... For a truly useful "3D" environment, you need to design the system, from the ground up, in 3D. Designing a 3D interface, that's patched over a 2D environment, will only produce eye-candy and research materials.
When I first connected via cable, it was excite@home. The service was great. It was operated by my (then) favorite search engine. At 6Mbps, I really couldn't complain... Then AT&T bought them out and dropped the speed to 3Mbps. I was irritated by the speed loss, but they offered me a deal on long distance telephone service. Comcast came along and the speed dropped to 1.5Mbps. The phone deal changed and all my communications were being handled by Comcast (phone (local and long), Internet, TV).
I stayed with cable because it was still faster then DSL. After a while, they even bumped the speed 3Mbps. However, by that time, there were enough people sharing my line that I was still only getting 1.7Mbps.
When Comcast put a 2GB per month limit on newsgroups, I finally dropped them. They lost my phone, Internet, and television business. With DSL via Qwest, I'm getting 1.2Mbps. I read over their EULA and discovered that they didn't have any of the restrictions that Comcast had pushed for so long (no server software). Qwest even offered me a static IP! Comcast kept promising that they may do that someday.
I switched over to Qwest DSL and phone (local/long). I also now have a dish for TV (more/better channels). The part that convinced my wife, we now enjoy a higher level of service, for $50 less a month. Qwest's newsgroup retention isn't as good, but I don't have limits.
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I never have understood much of the global climate debate. It's not the science or politics that I don't understand, it's the debate itself.
The disagreement is on the weight to assign to natural and human causes. Worse, activists on both sides try to pretend that it is *all* human activity or *all* natural causes. In my opinion, whether the cause is primarily human, or natural, it is pretty much a done deal.
This is the idea that confuses me the most. If someone is in a burning house, do they stand around debating on whether it was arson or lightning? Or do they try to do something to improve their odds of survival?
Personally, I think it's high time that people in power take a long, hard look at the problem and give us some options that might improve our odds of survival. Enough of this pointless bickering over who or what is to blame.
You are wrong...
From IBM:
Although IBM was incorporated in the state of New York on June 15, 1911 as the Computing- Tabulating- Recording Company (C-T-R), its origins can be traced back to developments at the close of the 19th century. For example, the first dial recorder was invented by Dr. Alexander Dey in 1888, and Dey's business became one of the building blocks of C-T-R. Similarly, the Bundy Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1889 as the first time recording company in the world, and it, too, later became a key component of C-T-R.
IIRC you couldn't have low and high voltage in the same gang box according to the NEC (National Electrical Code - USA), which is unfortunate as that would be the obvious way to get wall current and convert it to low voltage which is apparently a NO NO.
I did a quick Google for the National Electrical Code. However, all I could find were commercial sites that had it for sale. Talk about closed standards. Could someone quote the relevant sections or a link where they could be looked up? I ask because I recently added a small work bench to a utility room. I replaced the original gang box with a double gang box with AC power on one side and cat-5 on the other. There is a plastic divider between the two that was sold at Home Depot for just this purpose.
A couple of years ago my wife wanted to check her e-mail on my office computer. It was the only system in my network that ran Linux. I had some programs running and didn't want to give up the display. I started up evolution under kdesu and the program came up flawlessly. She had all her contacts, e-mail, etc available on my desktop.
:)
A little latter she asked if we could do the same thing on her computer because the kids were logged in and playing games. Sure I said, Windows has RunAs... We tried Outlook under RunAs and Outlook crashed complaining about not having access to the registry. I said sorry, Windows isn't a multi-user system like Linux.
Morel of the story: Out of 10 computers in the house, one still dual-boots to XP for certain video games. My wife demanded multi-user capability and insisted on Linux. Who was I to say no?
Not everybody wants to live like a gerbil in a cage, packed in with hundreds of other gerbils. The reason that people buy big houses with lawns and SUV's is that it's a more enjoyable lifestyle.
I couldn't agree more. I spent ten years living in apartments. Ten years of tip-toeing around my apartment at night so I didn't disturb the people below me. Ten years dealing with the kids upstairs screaming, bouncing balls, or whatever else they could come up with to make noise. Sure it was within walking distance of public transportation. Ever bring home two weeks of groceries for a family of 5 on a bus? As for landscaping, most of the complexes I've lived in had a nice park-like environment around them. It was kept that way by over-watering. They had beautiful floral gardens that were routinely ripped up and replanted whenever the majority of the plants lost their flowers.
Now I own a home in the suburbs. I drive twenty minutes to work (no bus service to my place of employment, so this didn't really change). I have two grocery stores within walking distance. I can make a reasonable amount of noise without disturbing my neighbors, and they can do the same. I have a nice lawn planted with low-water grass. The vegetable garden and small orchard I now enjoy were not allowed at the complex.
Now looking around and seeing how environmentalists prefer to have natural resources managed, I can see why they want everyone to live in concrete blocks that are stacked one on top of the next. There are several natural public areas surrounding the area where I live. You have to pay a fee to gain entrance to these areas. This is in addition to the taxes I pay to support them. Once inside, you are only allowed to use the provided facilities. Going outside of the pre-built camping areas is highly discouraged and a ranger will tell you to go back. I have to drive about 200 miles before I can find a natural area with public access where I can go camping in a natural setting.
If the environmentalists had their way, we would all be living underground in caves and visits to the surface would be forbidden for fear of disturbing nature.
I can't say much about TurboTax. I have an accountant (who incidentally uses Linux).
However, I've found Doom3 works just great without Wine/Cedega. In fact, I'd say the native Linux version runs better (under Linux) than the native Windows version (under XP).
I have to agree, though not really with the choices you list.
I've run SuSE since 6.2 and Gentoo for a year or so. One of the things I really like about SuSE is that it's easy to try out several competing applications.
Where I get a bit confused at times is libraries and frameworks. I'd love to find a good Web site that doesn't just list a generic description (like most project pages seem to), but rather compares competing libraries. I'd like to know if there is a good reason I should tell a configure script to use library x instead of library y. I've found most programmers seem to get a little miffed if you ask them why you should use their library.
On the contrary, in the GPL sense, I see open source as capitalistic.
You code an application and release it under GPL. A corporation finds the code useful, but wants a certain feature.
At that point they either pay you (the original developer) money to implement the feature, or implement it themselves and pay you with new code and an enhanced application.
Either way, you profit.
This was one of the main reasons I left Comcast (that and putting download caps on newsgroups). Comcast "High-Speed" is a marketing hoax. Sure, they provide the advertised bandwidth. That keeps it legal. However, their EULA forbids you from using any of it. Comcast sees the Internet as a new and better way to provide cable TV. It's better for them because access to the service can be based on username and MAC ID. It prevents people from stealing cable service. E-mail and Web browsing are just extras to entice people to sign up.
Napster was there before iTunes, and the idea of free music is now forever ingrained into the social consciousness of on-line culture.
Funny, for me it was radio that ingrained the idea of free music into my consciousness. Sure, its ad supported. However, I still get all the free music I want right out of thin air.
Interesting. If you look in the Atlantic Ocean, Australia is exactly opposite of where Atlantis should be...
I just realized that I listed the USPO instead of the USPS in my last question. Stupid acronyms. Just in case I got it wrong again, I'm referring to the United States Postal Service.
I have some basic, though probably stupid, questions regarding the legality of P2P software. There are several points I simply do not understand.
Say I set up a script that randomly scans IP addresses for FTP servers, attempts to login anonymously, and downloads a file listing. If I then put the IP address and file listing in a publicly accessible database, am I liable if that FTP server happens to have pirated materials?
If P2P file sharing is made illegal, will that make Microsoft Windows for Workgroups style file sharing illegal as well? It is after all a P2P protocol that I frequently use to move MP3 files between computers.
And finally, being a person who hates laws that only apply to computers when there are real-world equivalents, if I am an artist who finds out that my artwork is being regularly distributed via the USPO against my wishes; can I sue or bring charges against the USPO? I wonder how often the USPO is used to distribute illegal items.
I guess my confusion stems from the fact that P2P networks have been around as long as networks have existed (and I not just talking about computer networks). What technology exactly do they want to make illegal?
Opps, I checked the spelling and not the dates... The Atari Portfolio was introduced in 1989. Somewhere I have an old issue of Compute! with an advertisement in it.
An interesting article. Unfortunately, I found it to be very lacking. In 1992, I was a dirt poor college student. Strapped for cash, but needing a computer, I bought a KayPro portable computer. It had a 10MB hard drive and ran MS-DOS. Total cost at the time was $100.00 used. It was the first DOS-based computer I owned.
It's also sad that the Atari Portfolio wasn't mentioned. I'm not sure when it actually sold (sometime between 1997 and 1989). However, at 15.87 ounces with batteries and running a DOS compatible operating system, I'd say this piece of technology should stand out! A bit of notoriety: It was used in Terminator 2 when John Connor hacked an ATM. Full specs can be found at old-computers.com with a nice blurb at atarimuseum.com
Yes, yes, ban violence in video games! Everyone knows its more Nudity that we need! And who better to advocate this then expert lawyer whores!
(please mod funny)
If you're running Gentoo, it's been available in Portage for a while now. Gentoo-Wiki has a howto for installing it.
Yes. It's one of the things I really miss from MS Office. Of course I never used it in-line. Rather, I'd run it after finishing the document. It kept me from sounding too much like an idiot. It also helped improve my writing skills. After all, the fewer mistakes I made in the first place, the less time it took to correct. As for pointless suggestions, it's easy to ignore them.
I've used HP printers for years. However, when replacement ink began to cost more than a new printer, I decided to switch brands.
The first thing I did when deciding on a brand was to go to the local supply store and price compare the ink. At the time Epson ink was cheap, it worked with Linux, and the quality was good. I bought an Epson.
I never have considered a Lexmark. Silly-putty gives you better printing quality.
I've no idea why this was modded Troll. Seems like a perfectly good idea that I'd like to see done. Short CG movies have been around forever and a lot of your b-rate 1950's movies were produced without a budget. Of course, you wont get any of those multi-million dollar actors. However, it would be a good way for unknowen's to get seen...
Umm, wouldn't this ban Internet in public schools? Or are schools state owned and not run by a municipality?
I generally find the self-checkout lanes much faster. The morons in my area tend to use the regular lanes and avoid self-checkout. The units I've used don't bother with audio unless you wait for them to talk. I do prefer the units that let you sign electronicly. What's the point of self-checkout if you have to wait for a cashier? My major complaint is that all of the stores in my area insist on turning the units off at 10PM. They seem to think it's better to have 30 people wait in line for the single cashier that works at night.
I've set up several OpenLDAP based directories now using the SuSE Pro version. I'm not sure why you would need the Enterprise version for this purpose. SuSE's Yast graphical configuration tool is a breeze to use and they patched the cli user admin tools to support LDAP.
The only complaint I've had with Yast is that it insists on using the member attribute when creating or modifying group membership. I used the uniqueMember attribute when I set up my first directory and have used it since.
As for complaints about LDAP with Linux in general...
I've had problems with system groups when using different distributions as clients. Every distribution uses a different GID for any given system group. So you can't really put system groups in the directory (and it's bad security anyway). However, my users need to be members of audio, video, and sometimes games. I found a partial solution is using pam_group. However, the module doesn't seem to work with netgroups, so I have to add the users to pam_groups's configuration file (rather than assigning the users to the LDAP-based netgroup and using pam_group to assign system groups based on netgroup).
LDAP is definitely a work in progress under Linux, but I'd have to say that SuSE has made the most progress in implementing it.
Over the years, I've tried out several "3D" window and file managers. Most are just eye candy, though I applaud the effort. The base problem seems to be that computers are designed, from the ground up, two dimensionally.
/usr are all the programs a user might need. This sits on top of root. Linux took this a bit further and added /usr/local for user installed programs (not managed by the distribution).
/home/username along with documents and everything else. Most system settings are under /etc. Mounted devices (CD-ROM) are under /media/cdrom or /mnt/cdrom. User programs are under /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin or /opt/program-name or /home/bin. Administration programs are under /usr/sbin or /usr/local/sbin. System programs are under /sbin or /bin
/srv).
In the DOS days, everything was dumped into a single directory. After a while, directory trees were developed to help organize the mess. Though a step in the right direction, directory trees are inherently two dimensional. About 1995, I started using UNIX (Solaris). One of the most interesting things I noticed was the three-dimensional aspect of the file layout. Off the root, you have everything needed to boot. Under
Way back in the day, I belonged to several Citadel bulletin boards systems. The Citadel system consisted of subject based rooms where users could leave messages (similar to USENET). These rooms were then organized by floor. You could see all of the rooms on a floor and all of the floors on a system. If you were on the "Computers" floor, you might see rooms for Atari or IBM. However, you would need to go to the "Music" floor to see rooms for Classical or Rock.
I've often thought that such a system would benefit Linux and inspire a truly useful "3D" environment. All the files used by the system (but not the user or admin) could be put on the system floor. Files used by the admin, but not the user, would be on the admin floor. User's files would be on the user floor. You move between floors as your needs change. Need to add a user to the system? Drop to the admin floor and add them. Need to write that report? Jump up to the user floor and start writing. This fits in well with the current Linux layout while adding better organization and separation of roles. It also frames a "3D" environment.
An example...
Currently, most user specific settings are saved under
In the floor system, user settings would be in [user]/etc. System-wide settings would be in [system]/etc. The CD-ROM could be mounted at [user]/mnt to restrict it to a single user, or [system]/mnt for system-wide access. User-specific programs would go under [user]/bin. System-wide user programs could go in [system]/bin. Administration programs might go in [admin]/bin and boot programs could go in [boot]/bin. You could even add [user]/documents, [system]/documents, and [daemon]/documents for individual user documents, system shared documents, and daemon specific documents (think
Obviously, floor organization would have to be thought out. However, the current system fits nicely on a per floor basis. Best of all, it makes security a breeze. You could restrict daemons to the [daemon] floor and users to the [user] floor. [system] could be setup on a read-only basis or with the directory sticky bit set. If something is needed between floors (passwd needs to be on the [user] and [admin] floor) you could create a link (ln command) between floors.
Well, to sum up my babbling... For a truly useful "3D" environment, you need to design the system, from the ground up, in 3D. Designing a 3D interface, that's patched over a 2D environment, will only produce eye-candy and research materials.
When I first connected via cable, it was excite@home. The service was great. It was operated by my (then) favorite search engine. At 6Mbps, I really couldn't complain... Then AT&T bought them out and dropped the speed to 3Mbps. I was irritated by the speed loss, but they offered me a deal on long distance telephone service. Comcast came along and the speed dropped to 1.5Mbps. The phone deal changed and all my communications were being handled by Comcast (phone (local and long), Internet, TV).
I stayed with cable because it was still faster then DSL. After a while, they even bumped the speed 3Mbps. However, by that time, there were enough people sharing my line that I was still only getting 1.7Mbps.
When Comcast put a 2GB per month limit on newsgroups, I finally dropped them. They lost my phone, Internet, and television business. With DSL via Qwest, I'm getting 1.2Mbps. I read over their EULA and discovered that they didn't have any of the restrictions that Comcast had pushed for so long (no server software). Qwest even offered me a static IP! Comcast kept promising that they may do that someday.
I switched over to Qwest DSL and phone (local/long). I also now have a dish for TV (more/better channels). The part that convinced my wife, we now enjoy a higher level of service, for $50 less a month. Qwest's newsgroup retention isn't as good, but I don't have limits.