"Step One. Release wonderous New Version! It is THE must have thing."
That reminds me. When's the next Ubuntu out?
Just under six months now. Gutsy came out yesterday, so Hardy is going to be here in six months - one day.
"Step Two."
But who will pay my bandwith bill? Or, you know, order a free cdrom from Canonical. Or switch to an ISP that just charges you for a connection, rather than connection + bandwith.
"Step Three. Microsoft begins hinting about the upcoming new version. It will fix all of the (not quite admitted) problems with current version AND add exciting new must have features. And it is coming Really Soon."
So how's that Desktop Linux coming along? Extremely well, as of Kubuntu 7.10. True, I'm confused at the inclusion of OpenOffice.org rather than the vastly better KOffice, but that's simple to fix.
"Step Four. Have their minions in the trade press obsess about Upcoming new version."
Gotta love slashdot.
"All complaints about Current version are answered with "But Upcoming version will be out soon and will fix that problem." "
I stopped RTFM and "don't complain, code it" a long time ago. See, if people DID rtfm, they'd save time. And 'don't complain, code it' is how OSS software improves.
Unlike, say microsoft, where software is designed by market research. "Step Five."
Wobble my windows, baby! Don't have that enabled. I do have the desktop cube, transparency, and a few other bits enabled. Mostly the productivity enhancing ones.
Perhaps the BSOD jokes will stop when the BSODs stop happening?
I can count the number of times I've had a kernel panic on Linux, and they were all at boot, and all due to a misconfigured GRUB pointing to the wrong partition as root.
Run your own webserver. I'm going it here (8MB down, 0.5MB up, UK), and it's sluggish for people connecting.
Why do I use it? Because this way, I don't have to pay some webhost to store my content, and I can do whatever I wish content wise.
I'm looking forward to when the UK get fiber to the door - hopefully it'll mean more people taking the internet into their own hands, and doing what they want with it.
But then, that's probably exactly what big business in the US doesn't want, isn't it? If someone sets up a website on a server at home, connects it to the net (perhaps with something like DynDNS), then that's some money lost by a big webhost. Same with email, hell, with Jabber you can have your own IM service. True, a lot of people won't do this - they don't have the technical knowhow. But someone they know probably would, and which would you prefer? Webhosting from a proper webhosting company (costs money, no ads), a geocities/etc site (free, comes with ads), or some space on your friends server? (free, no ads, hell, probably no TOS). I know which one I'd go for - and neither comes from a big company.
1) Easy enough to do. Most of the major distributions will do this on install. Hell, if you're installing on identical boxes, save time and dd a image directly onto the disk - no installer needed, no setup, no anything.
2) Why the hell would you need to do that? Just take a preexisting distro (Ubuntu, SuSE, Debian, whatever) and use that. This way you get
3) The support structure of the previously mentioned distro. Hell, if you don't want to outhouse support (unlikely, this seems to be an increasingly popular option), it's hardly expensive to train support people to support Linux rather than MS. Have you seen how much getting a MSCE is? They'd save money on that end.
I would hope the crackers would be smart enough to use BSD or GNU/Linux.
OTOH, cracking Windows has a low barrier to entry, at least on the intelligence front. So perhaps you're right;)
Which version of Debian were you using? I'm using stable, and while I'm slightly behind cutting edge,;) I haven't have many problems in the way of stability. Certainly no breakage from updates.
I don't know, the target market of Windows Yes I Do Actually Know What I'm Doing has already been filled with a superior contender in that niche: GNU/Linux.
GNU/Linux: For computer users who know their computers. Mac OSX: For computer users who don't know their computers, but do like stability, regardless of cost. Windows: Duh, where is the any key? I broke my coffee holder.
As an example of GNOME asshattery? Yes. Why the hell should you have to create something that is in effect an entirely new (oh, and unconfigurable and unportable - can you use that screensaver in KDE/XFCE/etc? No. Can you change the settings of THIS screensaver? Also no.) screensaver, when, you know, you can CHANGE THE FREAKING SETTINGS on every other screensaver configuration tool I've seen? GNOME is taking the piss by calling it a configuration tool. They should rename it to a 'Screensaver selector', that way you'd know that you'll find no configuration in the tool - just some stuff to point at.
So what IP address do you send to to tell the computer what its IP address is?
The other computers may well not be interested, but the client is, and a multicast (or broadcast) is probably the only way to reach it, as it's not directly addressable (yet).
Actually, if you're talking about displaying websites, its Konqueror and Opera that are the top:) Both pass the Acid2 test. IE doesn't even come close, though FireFox is better.
I have a ThinkPad 240 here that would disagree with that.
300MHz, 128MB RAM, and still capable of playing video, music, etc. What more do you need from a ultralight laptop? And if I need more power, I can always use XDMCP to login to my desktop for more power.
Software patents. IBM has been quietly putting a number of its software patents into a kind of protective escrow situation where they cannot be directly used to generate income. My guess is that IBM is no lover of current patent law and prolly sees the whole body of existing software patents as being rather like a toxic wasteland, and the patent process being a drain on their revenues. It might make sense to use the legaldozer to do some environmental clean up in this area. There are legislative avenues that could and prolly are being pursued, but since there is this shiny yellow 100,000 lawyerpower engine with a big old blade on the front all warmed up and ready to go, maybe attempting some change through the judicial system would be worthwhile.
(d) Slashdotters are probably keen to get their 3D accelerated graphics and multi-monitor setups going, and this is one area where Linux really does suck bigtime. Probably not a big deal in a library or office setting though. The 3D bit may be down to proprietary driver issues but the multi-monitor issue does seem like a Linux weakness (it IS possible with manual xorg.conf-editing hell).
Doesn't look to be a problem for me:) Though I'll let you know when I get a second monitor setup.
Slashdot Mirror
yes
"Step One. Release wonderous New Version! It is THE must have thing."
That reminds me. When's the next Ubuntu out?
Just under six months now. Gutsy came out yesterday, so Hardy is going to be here in six months - one day.
"Step Two."
But who will pay my bandwith bill?
Or, you know, order a free cdrom from Canonical. Or switch to an ISP that just charges you for a connection, rather than connection + bandwith.
"Step Three. Microsoft begins hinting about the upcoming new version. It will fix all of the (not quite admitted) problems with current version AND add exciting new must have features. And it is coming Really Soon."
So how's that Desktop Linux coming along?
Extremely well, as of Kubuntu 7.10. True, I'm confused at the inclusion of OpenOffice.org rather than the vastly better KOffice, but that's simple to fix.
"Step Four. Have their minions in the trade press obsess about Upcoming new version."
Gotta love slashdot.
"All complaints about Current version are answered with "But Upcoming version will be out soon and will fix that problem." "
I stopped RTFM and "don't complain, code it" a long time ago.
See, if people DID rtfm, they'd save time. And 'don't complain, code it' is how OSS software improves.
Unlike, say microsoft, where software is designed by market research.
"Step Five."
Wobble my windows, baby!
Don't have that enabled. I do have the desktop cube, transparency, and a few other bits enabled. Mostly the productivity enhancing ones.
Grab the alternative CD, insert while your system is running, and you'll get a dialog asking if you want to upgrade from the cdrom.
It has one bit of bling I've never needed on a server: A GUI.
Seriously. All my server boxen are running headless, with OpenSSH installed. What use would a GUI be, apart from a waste of resources?
eXPerience, according to what I hear.
Perhaps the BSOD jokes will stop when the BSODs stop happening?
I can count the number of times I've had a kernel panic on Linux, and they were all at boot, and all due to a misconfigured GRUB pointing to the wrong partition as root.
So maybe they should let you upgrade for the cost of the discs plus postage?
There, fixed that for you.
Using Compiz Fusion in Feisty on my laptop, and it's rock solid.
Run your own webserver. I'm going it here (8MB down, 0.5MB up, UK), and it's sluggish for people connecting.
Why do I use it? Because this way, I don't have to pay some webhost to store my content, and I can do whatever I wish content wise.
I'm looking forward to when the UK get fiber to the door - hopefully it'll mean more people taking the internet into their own hands, and doing what they want with it.
But then, that's probably exactly what big business in the US doesn't want, isn't it? If someone sets up a website on a server at home, connects it to the net (perhaps with something like DynDNS), then that's some money lost by a big webhost. Same with email, hell, with Jabber you can have your own IM service. True, a lot of people won't do this - they don't have the technical knowhow. But someone they know probably would, and which would you prefer? Webhosting from a proper webhosting company (costs money, no ads), a geocities/etc site (free, comes with ads), or some space on your friends server? (free, no ads, hell, probably no TOS). I know which one I'd go for - and neither comes from a big company.
Just my £1
1) Easy enough to do. Most of the major distributions will do this on install. Hell, if you're installing on identical boxes, save time and dd a image directly onto the disk - no installer needed, no setup, no anything. 2) Why the hell would you need to do that? Just take a preexisting distro (Ubuntu, SuSE, Debian, whatever) and use that. This way you get 3) The support structure of the previously mentioned distro. Hell, if you don't want to outhouse support (unlikely, this seems to be an increasingly popular option), it's hardly expensive to train support people to support Linux rather than MS. Have you seen how much getting a MSCE is? They'd save money on that end.
I would hope the crackers would be smart enough to use BSD or GNU/Linux. OTOH, cracking Windows has a low barrier to entry, at least on the intelligence front. So perhaps you're right ;)
Which version of Debian were you using? I'm using stable, and while I'm slightly behind cutting edge, ;) I haven't have many problems in the way of stability. Certainly no breakage from updates.
I don't know, the target market of Windows Yes I Do Actually Know What I'm Doing has already been filled with a superior contender in that niche: GNU/Linux.
GNU/Linux: For computer users who know their computers.
Mac OSX: For computer users who don't know their computers, but do like stability, regardless of cost.
Windows: Duh, where is the any key? I broke my coffee holder.
A serious one? I wouldn't think so.
As an example of GNOME asshattery? Yes.
Why the hell should you have to create something that is in effect an entirely new (oh, and unconfigurable and unportable - can you use that screensaver in KDE/XFCE/etc? No. Can you change the settings of THIS screensaver? Also no.) screensaver, when, you know, you can CHANGE THE FREAKING SETTINGS on every other screensaver configuration tool I've seen? GNOME is taking the piss by calling it a configuration tool. They should rename it to a 'Screensaver selector', that way you'd know that you'll find no configuration in the tool - just some stuff to point at.
Well, perhaps it should be called the DCMA, then. Then that stupid bit of text can make even less sense.
So what IP address do you send to to tell the computer what its IP address is?
The other computers may well not be interested, but the client is, and a multicast (or broadcast) is probably the only way to reach it, as it's not directly addressable (yet).
Actually, if you're talking about displaying websites, its Konqueror and Opera that are the top :) Both pass the Acid2 test. IE doesn't even come close, though FireFox is better.
Oh, Kubuntu has a lot of desktop polish. Really very well integrated. And I liked the gui samba configuration tool.
Yeah, but us Linux devotees get our 'fix' for free :)
I have a ThinkPad 240 here that would disagree with that.
300MHz, 128MB RAM, and still capable of playing video, music, etc. What more do you need from a ultralight laptop? And if I need more power, I can always use XDMCP to login to my desktop for more power.
You appear to have made a slight mistake -
Software patents. IBM has been quietly putting a number of its software patents into a kind of protective escrow situation where they cannot be directly used to generate income. My guess is that IBM is no lover of current patent law and prolly sees the whole body of existing software patents as being rather like a toxic wasteland, and the patent process being a drain on their revenues. It might make sense to use the legaldozer to do some environmental clean up in this area. There are legislative avenues that could and prolly are being pursued, but since there is this shiny yellow 100,000 lawyerpower engine with a big old blade on the front all warmed up and ready to go, maybe attempting some change through the judicial system would be worthwhile.
This is Windows - even on identical hardware, your mileage may vary.
In a computer class, I've seen a windows install fail for no apparent reason. Start reinstalling straight after, and it succeeded. Pretty random, eh?
(d) Slashdotters are probably keen to get their 3D accelerated graphics and multi-monitor setups going, and this is one area where Linux really does suck bigtime. Probably not a big deal in a library or office setting though. The 3D bit may be down to proprietary driver issues but the multi-monitor issue does seem like a Linux weakness (it IS possible with manual xorg.conf-editing hell). Doesn't look to be a problem for me :) Though I'll let you know when I get a second monitor setup.
Ghost isn't free. dd is.
# ngrep -q "user"
:) Or is that a windows exploit?
bash: ngrep: command not found
# ngrep -q "pass"
bash: ngrep: command not found
Seems not to work here