Is your contention that it's not possible to both have integrity and work in the professional music industry?
Yes. Unless it's gangsta integrity we're talking about. Then when u rappin' in da hood like dat mutha Fiddy Cent u gotz da big momma integrityz yo! Wurrrrrrrrrrdddd homie.
It doesn't surprise me that some artists go for restrictive contracts. But then again, perhaps they're not really true artists.
"Obscurity" is quite relative. OpenBSD is fairly obscure in the big picture, but that doesn't mean it's irrelevant. It has its niche, and it works there very well. It has many supporters. And the project gets by just fine. The same would go for many artists. If they produce quality music, then word will spread and they will gain fans. Many of the fans will offer financial support. They may not be a household name, but they'll still get by financially.
There are many independent bands who do just fine for themselves financially. They're not pulling in millions, but they're living decently. And they usually have a very loyal fanbase willing to support them out to some extent.
And then there's this very issue of freedom. Would you trade your freedom and integrity as an artists for money? A true artists, one who puts his or her work above all, most likely would not.
Some very basic research, even just a few Google searches, would have made them aware of the risks of dealing with these labels. It's no secret that they royally fuck over a lot of artists.
I don't feel bad for people who sign an agreement with somebody without researching the other party's background and history. A quick Internet search would have revealed 20/20 hindsight as recorded by others who have been screwed over by the major labels.
That is because there is never a defense for the concept of corporate-controlled "rights management". That should hold especially true in a place like the United States, where the people always claim to hold rights and freedoms in high regards.
If your music is good, then people will give you donations (especially if you ask). You most likely wouldn't make millions, but you'd be more than able to get by.
This musician should do what many others have done and start his or her own website. Make the music available there, free of charge or for a small fee.
If they were stupid enough to sign a restrictive contract with some media label, the just wait until the agreement expires. Then be sure to never deal with them again, due to the points mentioned in this article.
Maybe you're not sure what an ad hominem attack is, and that is why you keep resorting to their use.
I'll spare you the dictionary definition of the term, since I question your ability to comprehend it. Instead, I will give you some examples of things to keep in mind while debating. Proper debating style, if you wish.
1) Admit when you have lost the argument or debate. This is something that you should have done long ago, in basically every discussion you have had. As per 2), you should not insult the victor because your defeat makes your ego feel hurt.
2) Do not resort to ad hominem attacks. Referring to those who have shot down every point of yours, time and time again, as "trolls" is bad debating style. As per 1), you should just admit that you have lost, and leave it at that.
Those two simple rules will help make our discussions here far more productive and enlightening. Now that you are aware of them, I do expect you to follow those protocols in future discussions.
I think everyone here would appreciate it if you stopped with the ad hominem attacks. We're trying to have serious discussion here, and your petty namecalling does not help us achieve a greater understanding of the matters at hand.
If you can't comprehend the issues we are discussing, then it is very acceptable for you to not post anything, rather than posting yet another ad hominem attack.
If he is a GNOME user, then he should still give KDE a try. If he hasn't used KDE in a year or so, then he will most likely not understand how far ahead of GNOME it now is.
Indeed, a flamewar would be pointless. KDE has proven itself superior to GNOME in every way. There's nothing to debate on that front.
I'm glad that you have been able to increase your productivy. Indeed, that's what open source software is all about.
Have you considered writing a short article describing your experience? That is, outlining the problems you had with GNOME, how KDE fixed/avoided those issues, and what you find most useful about KDE?
Such an article may start some much needed discussion within the GNOME community. Indeed, it would be ideal if they were made aware of the numerous issues which plague their software, and then they proceeded to fix them.
Give Ubuntu a try. Personally, I'd suggest using the Kubuntu variant, as it offers KDE rather than GNOME. You'll immediately notice the benefits it offers, especially if you have used distributions like Red Hat/Fedora, Mandrake/Mandriva or SuSE in the past.
What you'll notice is that it offers the power of Debian. Packages are extremely easy to install. Far easier than with Red Hat or SuSE, for instance. Upgrades are painless and very easy, too.
What I found to be the best feature, however, was the extreme stability of it. It's a rock-solid system, while proving very recent releases at the same time. I found it to be more stable than Fedora, for instance. I'm not sure if that's just because there may be more people maintaining the Debian packages, but regardless the increased stability is a fantastic feature.
The Ubuntu community is great. It is very friendly, and people are always willing to help out.
Others have found that it's the perfect platform to build specialized distributions upon. You get all the power and stability of Debian, with the support of the Ubuntu community, and in the end the result is a fabulous system.
Actually, this is the best way for new distributions to go. They build upon a solid base, like Debian or Ubuntu, and thus free themselves from the tedious work of maintaining a base system.
Yet they are also able to add value to the system, targeting a specific user group. In Kubuntu's case it is KDE users. In this case it is educational users. Such systems offer all of the benefits of Ubuntu, while also offering their own specific additions.
It's much the situation that arose in the 1970s, when people really started building software upon fairly common or standardized libraries (ie. what became the C standard library, POSIX, etc.), rather than writing it all from scratch. This time it is people building specific functionality upon a solid Linux distribution base.
Yes, _you_ could probably customize it like that. But many teachers, educators, and even school computer system administrators do not have such knowledge and experience. Even though they could easily pick it up, they may not have time to.
Thus a system like this proves to be quite useful. All of the specialized applications are integrated, and provided by default. So teachers can go ahead and install this on their classroom computer, for instance, without having to make sure it's got a network connection so they can download other educational packages.
If they had based it off of Kubuntu, they could have easily taken advantage of KDE's superior internationalization and localization support. Such support would have made this system usable by students and educators in many other nations, including those who do not use English.
Thankfully it is quite easy to install KDE on an Ubuntu system anyways. But it would be far more convenient for administrators and teachers to already have such fantastic and easy-to-use functionality installed by default.
It does not matter that many are stupid. That has always been true. The problem is their involvement with society as a whole.
Traditionally, those who lacked intellect found work in the manufacturing sector. But these days most manufacturing in the US has been moved to Asia, South or Central America, and Africa.
Now it's been reported that Ford will close a number of North American plants. If I recall correctly, GM made a similar decision recently. Those were amongst the last remaining major manufacturers in the US.
What we will see is a movement of the stupid from the manufacturing jobs which no longer exist to the service jobs. So yes, you probably will have to deal with those sort of people more often, at least for a little while. But an economy cannot survive long on services alone. Manufactured, tangible goods are required for strong economic growth.
As for the future of an economy without manufactures, it's difficult to predict the outcome.
It's widely known that sites such as MySpace and the forums at GameFAQs.com are "infested" with teens who would appear to lack basic textual communication skills.
Have any researchers who study education performed reviews of such sites? How do such children and teens perform in high school? Is their inability to write sensibly only exhibited online, or does it also creep into their school work?
The next generation will be dominated by the Chinese and the Indians. They're the ones who are currently at the forefront of research in basically all fields, even if they're doing such work at American or Europeans institutions.
So don't fear; innovation itself will not stop. It just won't be carried out by Western-born children who never learned the necessity of hard work and effort.
Slashdot Mirror
Is your contention that it's not possible to both have integrity and work in the professional music industry?
Yes. Unless it's gangsta integrity we're talking about. Then when u rappin' in da hood like dat mutha Fiddy Cent u gotz da big momma integrityz yo! Wurrrrrrrrrrdddd homie.
It doesn't surprise me that some artists go for restrictive contracts. But then again, perhaps they're not really true artists.
"Obscurity" is quite relative. OpenBSD is fairly obscure in the big picture, but that doesn't mean it's irrelevant. It has its niche, and it works there very well. It has many supporters. And the project gets by just fine. The same would go for many artists. If they produce quality music, then word will spread and they will gain fans. Many of the fans will offer financial support. They may not be a household name, but they'll still get by financially.
There are many independent bands who do just fine for themselves financially. They're not pulling in millions, but they're living decently. And they usually have a very loyal fanbase willing to support them out to some extent.
And then there's this very issue of freedom. Would you trade your freedom and integrity as an artists for money? A true artists, one who puts his or her work above all, most likely would not.
Some very basic research, even just a few Google searches, would have made them aware of the risks of dealing with these labels. It's no secret that they royally fuck over a lot of artists.
I don't feel bad for people who sign an agreement with somebody without researching the other party's background and history. A quick Internet search would have revealed 20/20 hindsight as recorded by others who have been screwed over by the major labels.
That is because there is never a defense for the concept of corporate-controlled "rights management". That should hold especially true in a place like the United States, where the people always claim to hold rights and freedoms in high regards.
If your music is good, then people will give you donations (especially if you ask). You most likely wouldn't make millions, but you'd be more than able to get by.
This musician should do what many others have done and start his or her own website. Make the music available there, free of charge or for a small fee.
If they were stupid enough to sign a restrictive contract with some media label, the just wait until the agreement expires. Then be sure to never deal with them again, due to the points mentioned in this article.
Maybe you're not sure what an ad hominem attack is, and that is why you keep resorting to their use.
I'll spare you the dictionary definition of the term, since I question your ability to comprehend it. Instead, I will give you some examples of things to keep in mind while debating. Proper debating style, if you wish.
1) Admit when you have lost the argument or debate.
This is something that you should have done long ago, in basically every discussion you have had. As per 2), you should not insult the victor because your defeat makes your ego feel hurt.
2) Do not resort to ad hominem attacks.
Referring to those who have shot down every point of yours, time and time again, as "trolls" is bad debating style. As per 1), you should just admit that you have lost, and leave it at that.
Those two simple rules will help make our discussions here far more productive and enlightening. Now that you are aware of them, I do expect you to follow those protocols in future discussions.
I think everyone here would appreciate it if you stopped with the ad hominem attacks. We're trying to have serious discussion here, and your petty namecalling does not help us achieve a greater understanding of the matters at hand.
If you can't comprehend the issues we are discussing, then it is very acceptable for you to not post anything, rather than posting yet another ad hominem attack.
If he is a GNOME user, then he should still give KDE a try. If he hasn't used KDE in a year or so, then he will most likely not understand how far ahead of GNOME it now is.
Indeed, a flamewar would be pointless. KDE has proven itself superior to GNOME in every way. There's nothing to debate on that front.
I'm glad that you have been able to increase your productivy. Indeed, that's what open source software is all about.
Have you considered writing a short article describing your experience? That is, outlining the problems you had with GNOME, how KDE fixed/avoided those issues, and what you find most useful about KDE?
Such an article may start some much needed discussion within the GNOME community. Indeed, it would be ideal if they were made aware of the numerous issues which plague their software, and then they proceeded to fix them.
Pr0n0buntu: I heard it has a custom taskbar icon to switch mice from right to left-handed in one click.
Why don't you just learn to masturbate with your left hand?
You're thinking of the wrong kind of cock. We're not talking about roosters; we are talking about male genitalia.
Give Ubuntu a try. Personally, I'd suggest using the Kubuntu variant, as it offers KDE rather than GNOME. You'll immediately notice the benefits it offers, especially if you have used distributions like Red Hat/Fedora, Mandrake/Mandriva or SuSE in the past.
What you'll notice is that it offers the power of Debian. Packages are extremely easy to install. Far easier than with Red Hat or SuSE, for instance. Upgrades are painless and very easy, too.
What I found to be the best feature, however, was the extreme stability of it. It's a rock-solid system, while proving very recent releases at the same time. I found it to be more stable than Fedora, for instance. I'm not sure if that's just because there may be more people maintaining the Debian packages, but regardless the increased stability is a fantastic feature.
The Ubuntu community is great. It is very friendly, and people are always willing to help out.
Others have found that it's the perfect platform to build specialized distributions upon. You get all the power and stability of Debian, with the support of the Ubuntu community, and in the end the result is a fabulous system.
That's an airplane. Cocks don't have wings.
Actually, this is the best way for new distributions to go. They build upon a solid base, like Debian or Ubuntu, and thus free themselves from the tedious work of maintaining a base system.
Yet they are also able to add value to the system, targeting a specific user group. In Kubuntu's case it is KDE users. In this case it is educational users. Such systems offer all of the benefits of Ubuntu, while also offering their own specific additions.
It's much the situation that arose in the 1970s, when people really started building software upon fairly common or standardized libraries (ie. what became the C standard library, POSIX, etc.), rather than writing it all from scratch. This time it is people building specific functionality upon a solid Linux distribution base.
Yes, _you_ could probably customize it like that. But many teachers, educators, and even school computer system administrators do not have such knowledge and experience. Even though they could easily pick it up, they may not have time to.
Thus a system like this proves to be quite useful. All of the specialized applications are integrated, and provided by default. So teachers can go ahead and install this on their classroom computer, for instance, without having to make sure it's got a network connection so they can download other educational packages.
If they had based it off of Kubuntu, they could have easily taken advantage of KDE's superior internationalization and localization support. Such support would have made this system usable by students and educators in many other nations, including those who do not use English.
Thankfully it is quite easy to install KDE on an Ubuntu system anyways. But it would be far more convenient for administrators and teachers to already have such fantastic and easy-to-use functionality installed by default.
Indeed, we are seeing one of the truly powerful features of Debian and Ubuntu: the ability to use them as a solid base for specialized distributions.
It does not matter that many are stupid. That has always been true. The problem is their involvement with society as a whole.
Traditionally, those who lacked intellect found work in the manufacturing sector. But these days most manufacturing in the US has been moved to Asia, South or Central America, and Africa.
Now it's been reported that Ford will close a number of North American plants. If I recall correctly, GM made a similar decision recently. Those were amongst the last remaining major manufacturers in the US.
What we will see is a movement of the stupid from the manufacturing jobs which no longer exist to the service jobs. So yes, you probably will have to deal with those sort of people more often, at least for a little while. But an economy cannot survive long on services alone. Manufactured, tangible goods are required for strong economic growth.
As for the future of an economy without manufactures, it's difficult to predict the outcome.
It would not appear to be a case of "GNU/Freedom".
a ce.com
If Netcraft is correct, then it would appear that MySpace is run on Windows systems.
http://uptime.netcraft.net/up/graph?site=www.mysp
They're even using IIS, so it's quite likely that there is absolutely no open source or FSF software powering their site.
It's widely known that sites such as MySpace and the forums at GameFAQs.com are "infested" with teens who would appear to lack basic textual communication skills.
Have any researchers who study education performed reviews of such sites? How do such children and teens perform in high school? Is their inability to write sensibly only exhibited online, or does it also creep into their school work?
Do you consider the GNAA a "fringe religion"?
Most of those are teens from Western nations.
The next generation will be dominated by the Chinese and the Indians. They're the ones who are currently at the forefront of research in basically all fields, even if they're doing such work at American or Europeans institutions.
So don't fear; innovation itself will not stop. It just won't be carried out by Western-born children who never learned the necessity of hard work and effort.
A festering heap of freedom.