Not to mention, did it clearly state on the outside of the package, that this limitation existed? I'm betting not!
That's another big problem with the world of software. You don't even know what you're agreeing to until after you buy the product and unwrap it. Once you've done that, they tell you it's non-returnable since it's opened - and you're stuck, supposedly agreeing to all sorts of outrageous licensing terms.
Have you ever examined the EULA for DeLorme Street Atlas products? I don't know about the latest version, but I've owned 2 versions of Street Atlas USA that both said it violated the license agreement to use the product with an unauthorized GPS device not manufactured by DeLorme! How many people bought this product to use with a 3rd. party generic GPS such as a Garmin, and *never* suspected that's not even allowed!
Heh... that would have been the HP 4020i I believe? I remember emptying my entire bank account when that first came out, and paying cold, hard cash for it in Best Buy. (The look on the girl's face waiting in line behind me was priceless.) I got it home, plugged it in, and got a poof of smoke and the smell of burnt capacitors.
Exchanged it for another unit at Best Buy the next day, and the second one worked for a few months. Then, it started writing coasters all the time. Had to send it in to the factory. Waited well over a month and finally got back a replacement unit - which seemed to work ok for the next year or so. By then, faster writers than 2x were out at much better prices, so the HP went bye-bye.
About a year ago, I read that there was a class action lawsuit against HP for the 4020i - claiming they knew it used a defective part and sold it anyway. I filled out the paperwork and got my share of the settlement, which turned out to be about as bad as the IOMega zip drive settlement... just a rebate coupon for money off on one of the current CD writer models. Oh well.
I'm not disagreeing with you that usability is critical if you want mass consumer acceptance.
I just don't think that a supremely usable desktop is enough. Quite frankly, no matter how nice the windowing environment/desktop is running on top of X - you're still dealing with a Unix system that's designed by and for "power users".
Until you make a Linux install so simple that it no longer makes users decide issues such as "do I want to format my drive with ResiserFS or ext2fs?" and "How do I know what my SCSI tape drive is called?/dev/st0? How the h*ll am I supposed to know it was assigned device name st0??" - you'll still have some problems.
All hardware peripherals need to be automatically recognized and become usable by graphical icons that appear on the desktop. I don't think we're there yet. I added a 7-disc CD-ROM changer to my RedHat 7.1 box the other day, and you know what? KDE and Gnome still don't show me 7 new icons for the new drives. If I was an average user, how would I use it?
I think BeOS took a hell of a stab at being usable, and we can all see how far that's gotten those guys. I don't know about you, but I don't see Palm being the ones who get BeOS pre-loaded on most new PCs sold, either. BeOS is living proof that a great desktop GUI doesn't equate with popularity.
There are many issues, really. I think Linux is still to "young" in the marketplace to start complaining about multiple desktop environments ruining it. Nobody really has one that's "complete" yet. Even Microsoft had to revamp their concept of a GUI several times over, before hitting on one that worked for them and for the public. Who really used Windows 3.0?
After reading the article, I think the main reason the new E could be the "next big thing" is because it's a really good attempt at building a fast AND asthetically pleasing desktop environment - *without* trying to bundle it with a set of applications. KDE and Gnome are both great projects, but they include a slew of applications and utilities, meant to make the desktop feel more "complete" out of the box. I think Enlightenment is saying "Hey, we're simply trying to make something really nice to work in, which lets you run any and all of those existing Gnome/GTK apps and existing KDE apps. They're not just defaulted to being slapped onto sub-menus below a list of "primary apps" made for E.
With all the current wars over "KDE vs. Gnome" as the best desktop, I'd really like to see a new entry that tops both of them, while seamlessly integrating the apps from both.
IMO, this essay is B.S.
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Mob Software
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· Score: 1
First of all, sure NASA had a number of rockets fail and crash. Think how much worse it would be if they opened up the space project to anyone and everyone who wanted to participate in it. Despite what the essay says, lunar missions needed to have structure and organization. There are always variables involved - but I don't think they ever believed otherwise. They're merely trying to apply the laws of physics and math to the best of their ability to reduce the risk, and build something that works as often as possible.
Likewise, programmers don't use tools like UML because they believe it reduces the number of bugs in their code. They do it to keep themselves organized and focused on a set of design goals.
This "mob programming" idea seems to me like just another thought in someone's head that generates a lot of hype for a little while, but has no real substance.
The larger a project gets, the more people get involved. This is just common sense. The best projects come from using the best educated/trained individuals for the projects. Open source works well because only people with a given level of interest + experience feel compelled to contribute to a given project. It's sort of an "automatic filter", because there aren't any financial rewards which might otherwise encourage lesser candidates to take on said projects.
They should have modded your post up a few notches, IMO.
You're absolutely right... The big issue is a lack of a plan for effective use of computers. I don't care whether they require desktops or laptops, and what brands they decide you should use. Any computer and network is only as good as the software and infrastructure allows.
My father is a college physics and math professor, and they recently started forcing all the teachers where he works to submit grades using a web-based online system. Well, he's so poor at using a home computer - it took him 2 weeks to learn how to properly connect and navigate the screens (and that was with a lot of assistance, plus screen-captures printed out of each step).
When you're being taught by people like this, how do you expect them to ensure you get the most use from your "University required" laptop or WinCE device!?
This isn't a slam against my dad. He's a PhD in Physics and knows his stuff. He's just a guy who came from a background of using computers with punch cards and reel tapes - and never had a need (until now) to keep up with the PC revolution.
One might counter your argument with the opposite... What's with this "new technology" fetish people have? Do they really need the latest 1.x Ghz processor and 80 gigs. of hard drive space just to type a letter?
Despite what Intel, Dell, Compaq, and all would like you to believe - the old tech. is still very capable of doing at least half of the tasks people want to do with a PC. It's stupid to waste a new PIII or P4 processor on a computer that's dedicated to controlling a home security system, or running a model railroad layout.
Re:Apply the same arguments to other areas of safe
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PDF Virus Spotted
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So you're proposing more regulation as the answer? I see a serious flaw in this reasoning. Government regulation and laws are already in place to punish those who develop virus code. Do you see it helping stop the creation and spread of virii? Nope! Why? Several reasons... but first and foremost, the United States has no authority to police the entire world. Virus code is usually written someplace other than in the U.S. - and sneaks across the Internet, which doesn't have borders.
U.S. government can't enforce regulations on anything that's not an established, legitimate industry anyway. Even if you got them to regulate security and quality standards for commercial software, it wouldn't have any meaning in the open-source, freeware, or shareware world.
(Or are you proposing that they slap a cease and desist order on any teenager who decides he or she would like to write a firewall program in their spare time, to learn more about TCP/IP and sockets?)
Many things work this way, though. Age is just one of a whole slew of what I call "image issues" that can hurt your business.
My friend and I used to run a computer consulting and on-site service business, for example. We did ok for a while, but our advertising and business expenses just kept exceeding our revenues, despite having happy customers. I'm convinced that one big reason for our problems was a lack of a business address to run the company from. People shyed away from doing business with someone who listed their address as a unit in an apartment complex. What did our physical location have to do with our computer knowledge and ability to repair a PC on-site? Nothing! But they still discriminate based on the perception that we're less of a "real business" than someone in an office park.
I'm currently unhappy with Toshiba's Satellite Pro 4600 model. All around cool laptop, with built-in wi-fi even -- but serious video problems.
With the pre-installed Win 2000 load, it gets corrupt text in Internet Explorer when scrolling down on web pages, and strange horizontal lines.
Some software (expecially games) kick it into video modes where the whole screen is corrupt.
It's a Trident Cyberblade 3D chipset, so maybe Trident just sucks - but Toshiba has made no effort to post an improved video driver after almost a year now.
It seems like they "solved the problem" by simply not using that chipset again for any future model of notebook.
Agreed! I really disliked both the Tecra 8000 and 8100 that I used. It seems like Toshiba charged a huge premium price on these models, just because they thought businesses would pay it for the ability to interchange docking stations and other such accessories among multiple models in the Tecra product line. You didn't really get a better computer for the extra money. The Satellite Pro high-end models had the same or better specs, and a less flimsy case/keyboard, for almost half the price!
It would make it easier to filter based on a simple domain (block all except.kid, for example, or your choice of.kid and another domain or two you feel is safe). Much more workable than trying to list all offensive web sites in existance and block them on the fly.
On the flip-side, how long do you think it will be before people wanting to target-market to children will be registering.kid domain suffixed domains, thinly guised as a fun site for kids to enjoy and learn from?
The reason many (can't speak for all, of course) of us open-source adovcates are decrying MS software as inferior has much more to do with their licensing and what they deliver for your money, than it does a belief that the concepts themselves are poor.
I think most of can agree that the MS Office apps are fairly well thought-out programs. Products for Linux such as StarOffice and AbiWord try so hard to be like MS Office because, frankly, it's a pretty usable set of applications. The real problem comes in when you look at how much MS makes you pay to use the stuff! Word processing and spreadsheets are among the first things people did with their home computers in the 80's - and yet, we're still expected to shell out well over $100,000 to keep a small business properly licensed to do these basic tasks with MS's latest upgrades? I can use a 10 year old version of Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect and do 99% of the same tasks people use Office 2000 to accomplish in my workplace right now. Where's the value in the MS stuff?
In a perfect world, sure, we'd all have this slew of "killer apps" that beat all the MS offerings - but *reality check*... we don't. Just how many different (and superior) ways can you come up with to balance a checkbook, write a document, put numbers and equations in spreadsheets, draw presentations, build databases? The masses have already voted with their wallets which interfaces they generally preferred. Now it's up to the Linux/Unix community to make those happen as open-source for a superior OS.
Seems like the whole concept makes a poor bet....
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Death of a Rebel
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· Score: 2
They're still working on an assumption that the majority of potential customers are PC illiterates who prefer limited-tasking, ease of use systems to full-featured, flexible computers.
Granted, there was a time when this held true. Look at the popularity of the electronic "word processors" from companies like Brother in the late 80's to early 90's. Where are they all now?
The fact is, the world is becoming more computer literate all the time. The current generation has grown up with the PC, and learned all the basics of using it in gradeschool.
Just the other day, I met a couple who live in a very poor part of town. They live in the upstairs bedrooms of a burnt-out house, with only 2 working electrical outlets and questionable plumbing (hot water runs to the toilet, and their sink only runs cold water). They can't afford a vehicle, so they both take the bus to work each day. Still, they own 2 computers and have a DSL Inet connection. They told me "We find the Internet and computers more fun and more useful than something like owning a car - so that's why we spent our money where we did."
Merely an "effort to stir the Slashdot pot"? Hardly! Sure, more people have experienced the web - but that's not even the point. Usenet was one of the original Internet tools that allowed people to grow into the WWW as we know it!
(I'd say the same for ftp and telnet.)
Really, the WWW provides a pretty front end interface to the other, more basic, Internet functions. Think about it. "Click here to email joeuser@imhere.com." "Click here to download this file." Deja and Google Groups provided people with a direct, searchable interface to the Usenet via WWW front-end. A telnet session can be started from a simple WWW link that launches your telnet client.
Despite all the spam, I find more purely useful information on Usenet, even today, than I do through web searches. When you need a technical solution to a specific problem, try searching Usenet as opposed to a web search. The WWW search usually just finds you vendors wanting to sell you the product you need help with, or expired links to a WWW based message board. People discussing the problem and attempted fixes are more often found on Usenet.
Yeah, they are getting more proprietary -- but that's bound to happen, since there are so few players in the CPU manufacturing game.
If you're Intel and have that large a market-share, why can't you decide that your latest CPU will throw in a few "twists"?
It won't reach a point where you need a new OS for each chip, though. That's been done already (see DEC Alpha, for a prime example) and the market has rejected it.
Most of these "processor extensions" such as 3D-Now, MMX, etc. are purely optional. Your code will still run fine if you don't take advantage of the extras.
Yeah, exactly... My boss is a big proponent of just buying a book and self-teaching on a subject, as opposed to blowing $'s on a class. But that's a bad deal for the employee, because you end up having to cut into your own personal free-time to learn. Sure, he might pop for the $40 for the book, but try reading it and doing the exercises in it during work hours and see how quickly you get reprimanded. The cost of the book is nothing compared to your personal time you have to invest to get something out of it.
Going to a training class forces your company to make the time committment to your learning.
Where I work (in the corporate H.Q. of a commercial metal heat-treater with 7 locations), our I.T. department consists of 5 people (including our boss). Our company has around 400 employees, total - to put things in perspective. We go back and forth on the training issue constantly. We don't have "budgets" for anything. The annual raises are pretty much determined by the owner of the company, who dictates to the heads of depts. what maximum percentage they can dole out to their people. Training and other departmental expenses are approved by dept. managers, who can use their own best judgement.
In I.T., what usually happens is the "yo-yo" effect. We complain for a while that we want more training, and management eventually agrees that it's a reasonable request. Then we get to go to a 3-day or a 1-week class on something. After that, they mumble something about considering a policy of attending 2 training courses per year, per I.T. person. Then it falls to the wayside as soon as big projects come up that require our time. Wait 1+ years and repeat cycle.
But is Son May Records really any worse than say, CheapBytes, who resells commercial Linux distros for only a few bucks a piece in generic packaging?
I don't see RedHat protesting that they're losing revenue due to CheapBytes cranking out copies of their CD distribution and undercutting them?
Sure, Linux is free and the music supposedly isn't.... that's not really my point here. I'm just saying the result is similar. The market ends up being big enough for all the players - counterfeiters/cloners and those who sell the "real deal". Some folks just want a copy of the media as cheap as possible, while others want to support the brand/artist/author. Still others will pay more to have the "original" with manuals/support, or liner notes/top-quality CD media.
If you want to severely reduce counterfeiting/cloning of your intellectual property, just price it right! Taking to the courts is a losing battle in the long run, but people just can't seem to grasp that. To eliminate a weed, you need to pull it out by the roots. Don't keep cutting the top off of it instead....
If you hadn't pointed that out, I was going to do the same.... You're exactly right. If you don't support the court's decision on this, you basically say that you're supportive of throwing out grandfather clauses in law. This issue was a question of whether or not people who created works 10+ years ago should be automatically held to newer legal standards, despite their own contracts saying nothing about digital media.
I can attest to the general lack of competence by the Bell companies.
In my area, I'm still unable to get DSL service (basically, because SWBT chose to place all the homes in my neighborhood on a central office switch that's geographically further away than a more sensible alternative, located not far from my house). Therefore, I get reamed for ISDN 128K service.
In the past, I used SWBT as my ISP as well as the provider of my ISDN line, because they offered "unlimited" dial-up ISDN for the same price as 56K modem dial-up. I changed to another ISP about 6 months ago, though - because they offered me a static IP for very little additional money.
Well, now my ISP changed their billing rules, and they've become too expensive - so I tried to go back to SWBT. Turns out, since they're merging with Prodigy Internet, they have no clue whether they actually sell ISDN dial-up Inet access or not! On one support call, I was flat out told "No - we no longer do ISDN." Another time, I was told "Prodigy Internet doesn't do tech. support for ISDN customers, so we don't allow new sign-ups. Existing ISDN customers can keep their accounts though." I emailed their tech support on Monday (support@swbell.net) to see what they said. After 2 days, I got a reply that was totally irrelevant to my question. (Explanation that SWBT still does ISDN line installs, and a number to call to set up ISDN service.) After writing back again, complaining about the lack of attention to my email and incorrect answer - someone else replied that evening. They simply said "Yes, we still offer ISDN internet access as well as ISDN service." and gave me the Prodigy Internet 800# to call with further questions about it.
If it's this hard just to sign up for dial-up Internet access with a Bell company, just think of the hassles I'll get if I actually have problems with my connection later on!
If you investigate hearing loss, you often find that people develop a "ringing in the ear" which eventually "goes away" if they don't remain around very loud noises.
What actually happens is not that the ringing stops, because it's reallly a result of some permanent damage in the ear. Instead, the human brain gets accustomed to the ringing sound and learns to block it out, so the person suffering doesn't even notice it any more. This, however, results in reduced hearing.
Why should carpal tunnel/RSI be different?
I know more than one person who was diagnosed with crippling carpal tunnel and had expensive surgery to fix it. Now, I suppose the doctors say those individuals are "healed", and skeptics may even claim they never needed treatment because it would have "gone away on its own".
I know that neither of these people can ever go back to typing and using the mouse with anywhere near the same frequency as before, though. Typing a little too long will cause symptoms to flare right back up. That says to me, there is permanent and irrepairable damage there. Sure, if they don't use a PC again - they might eventually feel fine after the surgery, but it doesn't mean they're 100% normal. If they were, 2 hours of typing wouldn't cause them pain.
What's it have to do with being a "selling point" for a PS1? PS1's are already out there by the millions. I can think of 2 friends of mine, right off the top of my head, who currently poke along with old-tech PCs due to being strapped for cash, and who also own a PS1 in their living room. If you can get the PS1 to work as a simple Internet terminal, even, it will be of real use to them.
This isn't about cost-effectiveness compared to a price of a new PC. This is about getting more use out of the stuff you spent hard earned $'s on a couple years ago....
I don't see it working, really. If it does, that speaks really poorly of the PC support and server support folks working in the Navy.
Here in St. Louis, I used to have friends working at the Army facility (now moved to Huntsville, AL) - and they went through a similar fight. The decree came down that the entire complex would be switched over to Windows. This was despite a whole group of people happily running their applications under Unix and X, and another dept. having great results with a Novell server.
Well, it never quite worked out as planned. Each non-Windows dept. made a huge fuss and refused to migrate to Windows. Since all of the OS's in question were interoperable on the LAN, it wasn't really possible for one person to tell what the other person was running as their file or print server, anyway. Engineering could say "Sure, we complied with the request and now run Windows here." and could keep on serving their files from another platform, on a PC hidden in the corner with the monitor turned off.
Granted, the average sailor who doesn't have access to install software might be forced to run 2000 - but the people maintaining the computers need to be the ones fighting this.
Where I work, I'm constantly trying to promote Linux in places where it would be beneficial.
We're a relatively small company, with roughly 250 computer workstations/notebooks and about 20 servers, spread across 7 locations. Right now, everything is running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 (except maybe 2 or 3 notebooks with Win '98).
I seem to be the lone voice in favor of Linux, though. The rest of the system administrators and support people I work with do nothing more than poke fun at me for trying to stir up trouble with the whole Linux thing.
Their biggest argument against Linux is that it will muddy up the environment. They're afraid of having "oddball boxes, running something completely different than the rest of the systems run". (Translation: We're too unsure of our own abilities to administer a Linux box, and don't want to be forced to learn something new.)
Our company is surprisingly willing to let the techs make the tech decisions. Management isn't forcing us to use MS products at all. They just want to see results, and being rather computer illiterate to begin with, don't care how the results are achieved. The techs themselves are keeping Linux out of our company!
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Not to mention, did it clearly state on the outside of the package, that this limitation existed? I'm betting not!
That's another big problem with the world of software. You don't even know what you're agreeing to until after you buy the product and unwrap it. Once you've done that, they tell you it's non-returnable since it's opened - and you're stuck, supposedly agreeing to all sorts of outrageous licensing terms.
Have you ever examined the EULA for DeLorme Street Atlas products? I don't know about the latest version, but I've owned 2 versions of Street Atlas USA that both said it violated the license agreement to use the product with an unauthorized GPS device not manufactured by DeLorme! How many people bought this product to use with a 3rd. party generic GPS such as a Garmin, and *never* suspected that's not even allowed!
Heh... that would have been the HP 4020i I believe? I remember emptying my entire bank account when that first came out, and paying cold, hard cash for it in Best Buy. (The look on the girl's face waiting in line behind me was priceless.) I got it home, plugged it in, and got a poof of smoke and the smell of burnt capacitors.
Exchanged it for another unit at Best Buy the next day, and the second one worked for a few months. Then, it started writing coasters all the time. Had to send it in to the factory. Waited well over a month and finally got back a replacement unit - which seemed to work ok for the next year or so. By then, faster writers than 2x were out at much better prices, so the HP went bye-bye.
About a year ago, I read that there was a class action lawsuit against HP for the 4020i - claiming they knew it used a defective part and sold it anyway. I filled out the paperwork and got my share of the settlement, which turned out to be about as bad as the IOMega zip drive settlement... just a rebate coupon for money off on one of the current CD writer models. Oh well.
I'm not disagreeing with you that usability is critical if you want mass consumer acceptance.
/dev/st0? How the h*ll am I supposed to know it was assigned device name st0??" - you'll still have some problems.
I just don't think that a supremely usable desktop is enough. Quite frankly, no matter how nice the windowing environment/desktop is running on top of X - you're still dealing with a Unix system that's designed by and for "power users".
Until you make a Linux install so simple that it no longer makes users decide issues such as "do I want to format my drive with ResiserFS or ext2fs?" and "How do I know what my SCSI tape drive is called?
All hardware peripherals need to be automatically recognized and become usable by graphical icons that appear on the desktop. I don't think we're there yet. I added a 7-disc CD-ROM changer to my RedHat 7.1 box the other day, and you know what? KDE and Gnome still don't show me 7 new icons for the new drives. If I was an average user, how would I use it?
I think BeOS took a hell of a stab at being usable, and we can all see how far that's gotten those guys. I don't know about you, but I don't see Palm being the ones who get BeOS pre-loaded on most new PCs sold, either. BeOS is living proof that a great desktop GUI doesn't equate with popularity.
There are many issues, really. I think Linux is still to "young" in the marketplace to start complaining about multiple desktop environments ruining it. Nobody really has one that's "complete" yet. Even Microsoft had to revamp their concept of a GUI several times over, before hitting on one that worked for them and for the public. Who really used Windows 3.0?
After reading the article, I think the main reason the new E could be the "next big thing" is because it's a really good attempt at building a fast AND asthetically pleasing desktop environment - *without* trying to bundle it with a set of applications. KDE and Gnome are both great projects, but they include a slew of applications and utilities, meant to make the desktop feel more "complete" out of the box. I think Enlightenment is saying "Hey, we're simply trying to make something really nice to work in, which lets you run any and all of those existing Gnome/GTK apps and existing KDE apps. They're not just defaulted to being slapped onto sub-menus below a list of "primary apps" made for E.
With all the current wars over "KDE vs. Gnome" as the best desktop, I'd really like to see a new entry that tops both of them, while seamlessly integrating the apps from both.
First of all, sure NASA had a number of rockets fail and crash. Think how much worse it would be if they opened up the space project to anyone and everyone who wanted to participate in it. Despite what the essay says, lunar missions needed to have structure and organization. There are always variables involved - but I don't think they ever believed otherwise. They're merely trying to apply the laws of physics and math to the best of their ability to reduce the risk, and build something that works as often as possible.
Likewise, programmers don't use tools like UML because they believe it reduces the number of bugs in their code. They do it to keep themselves organized and focused on a set of design goals.
This "mob programming" idea seems to me like just another thought in someone's head that generates a lot of hype for a little while, but has no real substance.
The larger a project gets, the more people get involved. This is just common sense. The best projects come from using the best educated/trained individuals for the projects. Open source works well because only people with a given level of interest + experience feel compelled to contribute to a given project. It's sort of an "automatic filter", because there aren't any financial rewards which might otherwise encourage lesser candidates to take on said projects.
They should have modded your post up a few notches, IMO.
You're absolutely right... The big issue is a lack of a plan for effective use of computers. I don't care whether they require desktops or laptops, and what brands they decide you should use. Any computer and network is only as good as the software and infrastructure allows.
My father is a college physics and math professor, and they recently started forcing all the teachers where he works to submit grades using a web-based online system. Well, he's so poor at using a home computer - it took him 2 weeks to learn how to properly connect and navigate the screens (and that was with a lot of assistance, plus screen-captures printed out of each step).
When you're being taught by people like this, how do you expect them to ensure you get the most use from your "University required" laptop or WinCE device!?
This isn't a slam against my dad. He's a PhD in Physics and knows his stuff. He's just a guy who came from a background of using computers with punch cards and reel tapes - and never had a need (until now) to keep up with the PC revolution.
One might counter your argument with the opposite... What's with this "new technology" fetish people have? Do they really need the latest 1.x Ghz processor and 80 gigs. of hard drive space just to type a letter?
Despite what Intel, Dell, Compaq, and all would like you to believe - the old tech. is still very capable of doing at least half of the tasks people want to do with a PC. It's stupid to waste a new PIII or P4 processor on a computer that's dedicated to controlling a home security system, or running a model railroad layout.
So you're proposing more regulation as the answer? I see a serious flaw in this reasoning. Government regulation and laws are already in place to punish those who develop virus code. Do you see it helping stop the creation and spread of virii? Nope! Why? Several reasons... but first and foremost, the United States has no authority to police the entire world. Virus code is usually written someplace other than in the U.S. - and sneaks across the Internet, which doesn't have borders.
U.S. government can't enforce regulations on anything that's not an established, legitimate industry anyway. Even if you got them to regulate security and quality standards for commercial software, it wouldn't have any meaning in the open-source, freeware, or shareware world.
(Or are you proposing that they slap a cease and desist order on any teenager who decides he or she would like to write a firewall program in their spare time, to learn more about TCP/IP and sockets?)
Many things work this way, though. Age is just one of a whole slew of what I call "image issues" that can hurt your business.
My friend and I used to run a computer consulting and on-site service business, for example. We did ok for a while, but our advertising and business expenses just kept exceeding our revenues, despite having happy customers. I'm convinced that one big reason for our problems was a lack of a business address to run the company from. People shyed away from doing business with someone who listed their address as a unit in an apartment complex. What did our physical location have to do with our computer knowledge and ability to repair a PC on-site? Nothing! But they still discriminate based on the perception that we're less of a "real business" than someone in an office park.
I'm currently unhappy with Toshiba's Satellite Pro 4600 model. All around cool laptop, with built-in wi-fi even -- but serious video problems.
With the pre-installed Win 2000 load, it gets corrupt text in Internet Explorer when scrolling down on web pages, and strange horizontal lines.
Some software (expecially games) kick it into video modes where the whole screen is corrupt.
It's a Trident Cyberblade 3D chipset, so maybe Trident just sucks - but Toshiba has made no effort to post an improved video driver after almost a year now.
It seems like they "solved the problem" by simply not using that chipset again for any future model of notebook.
Agreed! I really disliked both the Tecra 8000 and 8100 that I used. It seems like Toshiba charged a huge premium price on these models, just because they thought businesses would pay it for the ability to interchange docking stations and other such accessories among multiple models in the Tecra product line. You didn't really get a better computer for the extra money. The Satellite Pro high-end models had the same or better specs, and a less flimsy case/keyboard, for almost half the price!
It would make it easier to filter based on a simple domain (block all except .kid, for example, or your choice of .kid and another domain or two you feel is safe). Much more workable than trying to list all offensive web sites in existance and block them on the fly.
.kid domain suffixed domains, thinly guised as a fun site for kids to enjoy and learn from?
On the flip-side, how long do you think it will be before people wanting to target-market to children will be registering
The reason many (can't speak for all, of course) of us open-source adovcates are decrying MS software as inferior has much more to do with their licensing and what they deliver for your money, than it does a belief that the concepts themselves are poor.
... we don't. Just how many different (and superior) ways can you come up with to balance a checkbook, write a document, put numbers and equations in spreadsheets, draw presentations, build databases? The masses have already voted with their wallets which interfaces they generally preferred. Now it's up to the Linux/Unix community to make those happen as open-source for a superior OS.
I think most of can agree that the MS Office apps are fairly well thought-out programs. Products for Linux such as StarOffice and AbiWord try so hard to be like MS Office because, frankly, it's a pretty usable set of applications. The real problem comes in when you look at how much MS makes you pay to use the stuff! Word processing and spreadsheets are among the first things people did with their home computers in the 80's - and yet, we're still expected to shell out well over $100,000 to keep a small business properly licensed to do these basic tasks with MS's latest upgrades? I can use a 10 year old version of Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect and do 99% of the same tasks people use Office 2000 to accomplish in my workplace right now. Where's the value in the MS stuff?
In a perfect world, sure, we'd all have this slew of "killer apps" that beat all the MS offerings - but *reality check*
They're still working on an assumption that the majority of potential customers are PC illiterates who prefer limited-tasking, ease of use systems to full-featured, flexible computers.
Granted, there was a time when this held true. Look at the popularity of the electronic "word processors" from companies like Brother in the late 80's to early 90's. Where are they all now?
The fact is, the world is becoming more computer literate all the time. The current generation has grown up with the PC, and learned all the basics of using it in gradeschool.
Just the other day, I met a couple who live in a very poor part of town. They live in the upstairs bedrooms of a burnt-out house, with only 2 working electrical outlets and questionable plumbing (hot water runs to the toilet, and their sink only runs cold water). They can't afford a vehicle, so they both take the bus to work each day. Still, they own 2 computers and have a DSL Inet connection. They told me "We find the Internet and computers more fun and more useful than something like owning a car - so that's why we spent our money where we did."
Merely an "effort to stir the Slashdot pot"? Hardly! Sure, more people have experienced the web - but that's not even the point. Usenet was one of the original Internet tools that allowed people to grow into the WWW as we know it!
(I'd say the same for ftp and telnet.)
Really, the WWW provides a pretty front end interface to the other, more basic, Internet functions. Think about it. "Click here to email joeuser@imhere.com." "Click here to download this file." Deja and Google Groups provided people with a direct, searchable interface to the Usenet via WWW front-end. A telnet session can be started from a simple WWW link that launches your telnet client.
Despite all the spam, I find more purely useful information on Usenet, even today, than I do through web searches. When you need a technical solution to a specific problem, try searching Usenet as opposed to a web search. The WWW search usually just finds you vendors wanting to sell you the product you need help with, or expired links to a WWW based message board. People discussing the problem and attempted fixes are more often found on Usenet.
Yeah, they are getting more proprietary -- but that's bound to happen, since there are so few players in the CPU manufacturing game.
If you're Intel and have that large a market-share, why can't you decide that your latest CPU will throw in a few "twists"?
It won't reach a point where you need a new OS for each chip, though. That's been done already (see DEC Alpha, for a prime example) and the market has rejected it.
Most of these "processor extensions" such as 3D-Now, MMX, etc. are purely optional. Your code will still run fine if you don't take advantage of the extras.
Yeah, exactly... My boss is a big proponent of just buying a book and self-teaching on a subject, as opposed to blowing $'s on a class. But that's a bad deal for the employee, because you end up having to cut into your own personal free-time to learn. Sure, he might pop for the $40 for the book, but try reading it and doing the exercises in it during work hours and see how quickly you get reprimanded. The cost of the book is nothing compared to your personal time you have to invest to get something out of it.
Going to a training class forces your company to make the time committment to your learning.
Where I work (in the corporate H.Q. of a commercial metal heat-treater with 7 locations), our I.T. department consists of 5 people (including our boss). Our company has around 400 employees, total - to put things in perspective. We go back and forth on the training issue constantly. We don't have "budgets" for anything. The annual raises are pretty much determined by the owner of the company, who dictates to the heads of depts. what maximum percentage they can dole out to their people. Training and other departmental expenses are approved by dept. managers, who can use their own best judgement.
In I.T., what usually happens is the "yo-yo" effect. We complain for a while that we want more training, and management eventually agrees that it's a reasonable request. Then we get to go to a 3-day or a 1-week class on something. After that, they mumble something about considering a policy of attending 2 training courses per year, per I.T. person. Then it falls to the wayside as soon as big projects come up that require our time. Wait 1+ years and repeat cycle.
But is Son May Records really any worse than say, CheapBytes, who resells commercial Linux distros for only a few bucks a piece in generic packaging?
I don't see RedHat protesting that they're losing revenue due to CheapBytes cranking out copies of their CD distribution and undercutting them?
Sure, Linux is free and the music supposedly isn't.... that's not really my point here. I'm just saying the result is similar. The market ends up being big enough for all the players - counterfeiters/cloners and those who sell the "real deal". Some folks just want a copy of the media as cheap as possible, while others want to support the brand/artist/author. Still others will pay more to have the "original" with manuals/support, or liner notes/top-quality CD media.
If you want to severely reduce counterfeiting/cloning of your intellectual property, just price it right! Taking to the courts is a losing battle in the long run, but people just can't seem to grasp that. To eliminate a weed, you need to pull it out by the roots. Don't keep cutting the top off of it instead....
If you hadn't pointed that out, I was going to do the same.... You're exactly right. If you don't support the court's decision on this, you basically say that you're supportive of throwing out grandfather clauses in law. This issue was a question of whether or not people who created works 10+ years ago should be automatically held to newer legal standards, despite their own contracts saying nothing about digital media.
I can attest to the general lack of competence by the Bell companies.
In my area, I'm still unable to get DSL service (basically, because SWBT chose to place all the homes in my neighborhood on a central office switch that's geographically further away than a more sensible alternative, located not far from my house). Therefore, I get reamed for ISDN 128K service.
In the past, I used SWBT as my ISP as well as the provider of my ISDN line, because they offered "unlimited" dial-up ISDN for the same price as 56K modem dial-up. I changed to another ISP about 6 months ago, though - because they offered me a static IP for very little additional money.
Well, now my ISP changed their billing rules, and they've become too expensive - so I tried to go back to SWBT. Turns out, since they're merging with Prodigy Internet, they have no clue whether they actually sell ISDN dial-up Inet access or not! On one support call, I was flat out told "No - we no longer do ISDN." Another time, I was told "Prodigy Internet doesn't do tech. support for ISDN customers, so we don't allow new sign-ups. Existing ISDN customers can keep their accounts though." I emailed their tech support on Monday (support@swbell.net) to see what they said. After 2 days, I got a reply that was totally irrelevant to my question. (Explanation that SWBT still does ISDN line installs, and a number to call to set up ISDN service.) After writing back again, complaining about the lack of attention to my email and incorrect answer - someone else replied that evening. They simply said "Yes, we still offer ISDN internet access as well as ISDN service." and gave me the Prodigy Internet 800# to call with further questions about it.
If it's this hard just to sign up for dial-up Internet access with a Bell company, just think of the hassles I'll get if I actually have problems with my connection later on!
If you investigate hearing loss, you often find that people develop a "ringing in the ear" which eventually "goes away" if they don't remain around very loud noises.
What actually happens is not that the ringing stops, because it's reallly a result of some permanent damage in the ear. Instead, the human brain gets accustomed to the ringing sound and learns to block it out, so the person suffering doesn't even notice it any more. This, however, results in reduced hearing.
Why should carpal tunnel/RSI be different?
I know more than one person who was diagnosed with crippling carpal tunnel and had expensive surgery to fix it. Now, I suppose the doctors say those individuals are "healed", and skeptics may even claim they never needed treatment because it would have "gone away on its own".
I know that neither of these people can ever go back to typing and using the mouse with anywhere near the same frequency as before, though. Typing a little too long will cause symptoms to flare right back up. That says to me, there is permanent and irrepairable damage there. Sure, if they don't use a PC again - they might eventually feel fine after the surgery, but it doesn't mean they're 100% normal. If they were, 2 hours of typing wouldn't cause them pain.
What's it have to do with being a "selling point" for a PS1? PS1's are already out there by the millions. I can think of 2 friends of mine, right off the top of my head, who currently poke along with old-tech PCs due to being strapped for cash, and who also own a PS1 in their living room. If you can get the PS1 to work as a simple Internet terminal, even, it will be of real use to them.
This isn't about cost-effectiveness compared to a price of a new PC. This is about getting more use out of the stuff you spent hard earned $'s on a couple years ago....
I don't see it working, really. If it does, that speaks really poorly of the PC support and server support folks working in the Navy.
Here in St. Louis, I used to have friends working at the Army facility (now moved to Huntsville, AL) - and they went through a similar fight. The decree came down that the entire complex would be switched over to Windows. This was despite a whole group of people happily running their applications under Unix and X, and another dept. having great results with a Novell server.
Well, it never quite worked out as planned. Each non-Windows dept. made a huge fuss and refused to migrate to Windows. Since all of the OS's in question were interoperable on the LAN, it wasn't really possible for one person to tell what the other person was running as their file or print server, anyway. Engineering could say "Sure, we complied with the request and now run Windows here." and could keep on serving their files from another platform, on a PC hidden in the corner with the monitor turned off.
Granted, the average sailor who doesn't have access to install software might be forced to run 2000 - but the people maintaining the computers need to be the ones fighting this.
Where I work, I'm constantly trying to promote Linux in places where it would be beneficial.
We're a relatively small company, with roughly 250 computer workstations/notebooks and about 20 servers, spread across 7 locations. Right now, everything is running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 (except maybe 2 or 3 notebooks with Win '98).
I seem to be the lone voice in favor of Linux, though. The rest of the system administrators and support people I work with do nothing more than poke fun at me for trying to stir up trouble with the whole Linux thing.
Their biggest argument against Linux is that it will muddy up the environment. They're afraid of having "oddball boxes, running something completely different than the rest of the systems run". (Translation: We're too unsure of our own abilities to administer a Linux box, and don't want to be forced to learn something new.)
Our company is surprisingly willing to let the techs make the tech decisions. Management isn't forcing us to use MS products at all. They just want to see results, and being rather computer illiterate to begin with, don't care how the results are achieved. The techs themselves are keeping Linux out of our company!