I'm not sure about that first sentence; That's assuming the USAF and federal government have the U.S. citizen's best interest at heart. Post-WW2 history suggests otherwise.
I think such a scheme would be used PRIMARILY to spy on American citizens, rather than attack foreign countries.
As for the 3rd amendment to the Constitution, isn't the Constitution considered the foundation for some 18/19th Century concept called "U.S. Democracy"? That's so outdated, and unsuited for the way the country functions today -- "U.S. Corporatism" has been the way of the nation for over 50 years, and the results speak for themselves.
Property-based privacy interests are protected to the extent that the interested party is willing and able to protect them.
> all the things you describe modify your OS on a low-level basis by modifying, adding and removing files from your root directory and sub-directories which can break your installation
I don't see how annoying me with a password prompt PREVENTS me from breaking my installation. It could only DELAY the breaking. (It also prevents someone else from walking to my computer and breaking it, but for that situation, there's a "ask for password on resume" option in the Screensaver.)
What does effectively prevent breakage of the system are utilities that are well-designed and work correctly. And in that department, Ubuntu 7.10 does its job well. I could set up dual screen and 3D acceleration without reading a manual or editing config files.
> It is the way Unix-like OSes work
'The way it has always worked' is the number 1 excuse for continuing bad interaction design, to the detriment of computer users the world over. What goes on behind the scenes (the engineering domain) and what happens between the human and the keyboard/screen/mouse are two different things, and there is no reason the latter has to accommodate the former. In fact, since computers are supposed to make our lives easier, shouldn't it be the other way around?
PolicyKit? That's the answer I was looking for! Now I've got something to look forward to in the next release!
Windows is the biggest malware target because it is the most popular OS used by the majority of computer users.
From the point of view of a virus coder or cracker, Linux doesn't have much appeal; There are so many different versions used by -- comparatively -- few people that going to all the trouble of writing an exploit for, say, Ubuntu 7.04, is hardly worth the time.
Interestingly, it's the same reason little commercial software exists for Linux -- small return on investment -- and too many OS variations to support. Why bother?
That's why platform-independent solutions, like Web-based apps, are so popular in the industry, since they don't require clients with Windows... the compatibility issue is offloaded to the browser. This is done despite the enormous speed loss associated with Web-based apps.
I want to enter exactly one password to use my computer. ONCE. PER. SESSION.
Currently the Linux security offers me the choice between A and B:
A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and
B "root account with total power to wreck everything"
I would like my account (type: "admin") to occupy a sensible middle ground between A and B. I would use GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing critical system files or leaving my system without a working/etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Scoff all you want about GUI tools -- Xerox PARC invented them in the 80's. There is really no justification to force the command line on anyone in this day and age, unless you are determined to make your system unpopular and inelegant.
My question is: Is it possible to make GNOME stop asking for my password whenever I click on a System Config tool?
No, that's not what I wanted. Isn't there some middle ground between A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and B "root account with total power to wreck everything"?
I just want to enter the password once, on the login screen, and then be able to use the GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing the system partition or leaving my system without a video driver.
I know about sudo bash, but this is GNOME we are talking about. It's a graphical environment, you know, the kind that was invented at Xerox PARC in the 80's. Yes, there are plenty of Linux users who prefer the command line and think anyone who uses a GUI is a drooling moron. I used to have a friend like that, but we don't speak much anymore.
Will there finally be a way to give my user account admin privileges? I mean, like in Windows XP, so I don't have to type in the fucking password every time I do anything?
This is easily the most aggravating feature of Linux, since the first month I spent on an new distro I am doing nothing but config stuff.
On a related note, what's the point of the keyring applet -- it stores your passwords... but every time it is used, it makes you type in yet another password. What's the point of that?
You call that a rant?:-) Let me have a go! You wrote after my own heart; erm, I mean I agree with you.
Have you ever read Alan Cooper's books on user interaction design? I think they are brilliant. I'm glad I found yet another sensible IT person.
I hate evangelists, wether it's Linux, Religion or other irrational belief they try to ram down your throat.
I'm happy with my current system, an Athlon 1800 with Windows XP. It's stable, runs the software I want, and I'm so used to the interface I don't notice it anymore. I just want something that works. And I have tried many Linux distros over the years, and they all took way too much effort to make them do anything useful or entertaining. I swear for every peripheral or feature, what can be done in one day in Windows will take a week in Linux. (My last Linux box was a RedHat Fedora Core 5 server)
The worst thing about Linux... is that it's not an OS. Linux is a kernel. The distro vendor will patch some version of Torvald's kernel, the nerds will compile the Open Source Software Library, and the (l)users will install the distro on their PCs and then spend all their waking hours trying to get it to work.
The Linux-based OS market is hopelessly fragmented -- not only are there over 100 distros, each of those distros typically releases a new version every 6 months. Each new version is completely incompatible with the software packages from the previous one, it will have new bugs (even some that were fixed in the previous release etc). No two distros work quite alike, either behind the scenes or in the foreground. Experience gained by a user operating Ubuntu is worthless when confronted with a box running RedHat, and vice versa.
Oh, and than there's removable media... Linux just doesn't know how to deal with it, does it?
Contrast that with Windows and Mac: Between 1995 and 2007, there's been Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. During that time, any given Linux distro would have released twice as many versions. Apple moves even slower -- there's OS9, and OSX.
Slower is better, and less is more.
The founding fathers saw that creative people were very valuable to society, and should be able to make a living from what they do. That means the CREATORS of music, art and video games should own their idea. What is so blatantly unfair about the recording industry is that the means of production (recording studios, CD presses, distribution system etc.) are monopolized by a few corporations whose only interest is making money, not music. The 85/15 profit sharing split is blatant proof that the system is skewed.
If you are fed up with high prices for CDs, download them, and send the artist $4 per album... if iTunes didn't have this DRM bullshit I would get right into it. (I don't own an iPod)
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I'm not sure about that first sentence; That's assuming the USAF and federal government have the U.S. citizen's best interest at heart. Post-WW2 history suggests otherwise.
I think such a scheme would be used PRIMARILY to spy on American citizens, rather than attack foreign countries.
As for the 3rd amendment to the Constitution, isn't the Constitution considered the foundation for some 18/19th Century concept called "U.S. Democracy"? That's so outdated, and unsuited for the way the country functions today -- "U.S. Corporatism" has been the way of the nation for over 50 years, and the results speak for themselves.
Property-based privacy interests are protected to the extent that the interested party is willing and able to protect them.
> all the things you describe modify your OS on a low-level basis by modifying, adding and removing files from your root directory and sub-directories which can break your installation
I don't see how annoying me with a password prompt PREVENTS me from breaking my installation. It could only DELAY the breaking. (It also prevents someone else from walking to my computer and breaking it, but for that situation, there's a "ask for password on resume" option in the Screensaver.)
What does effectively prevent breakage of the system are utilities that are well-designed and work correctly. And in that department, Ubuntu 7.10 does its job well. I could set up dual screen and 3D acceleration without reading a manual or editing config files.
> It is the way Unix-like OSes work
'The way it has always worked' is the number 1 excuse for continuing bad interaction design, to the detriment of computer users the world over. What goes on behind the scenes (the engineering domain) and what happens between the human and the keyboard/screen/mouse are two different things, and there is no reason the latter has to accommodate the former. In fact, since computers are supposed to make our lives easier, shouldn't it be the other way around?
PolicyKit? That's the answer I was looking for! Now I've got something to look forward to in the next release!
Windows is the biggest malware target because it is the most popular OS used by the majority of computer users.
From the point of view of a virus coder or cracker, Linux doesn't have much appeal; There are so many different versions used by -- comparatively -- few people that going to all the trouble of writing an exploit for, say, Ubuntu 7.04, is hardly worth the time.
Interestingly, it's the same reason little commercial software exists for Linux -- small return on investment -- and too many OS variations to support. Why bother?
That's why platform-independent solutions, like Web-based apps, are so popular in the industry, since they don't require clients with Windows... the compatibility issue is offloaded to the browser. This is done despite the enormous speed loss associated with Web-based apps.
I am not joking.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.
I want to enter exactly one password to use my computer. ONCE. PER. SESSION.
Currently the Linux security offers me the choice between A and B:
A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and
B "root account with total power to wreck everything"
I would like my account (type: "admin") to occupy a sensible middle ground between A and B.
I would use GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing critical system files or leaving my system without a working
Scoff all you want about GUI tools -- Xerox PARC invented them in the 80's. There is really no justification to force the command line on anyone in this day and age, unless you are determined to make your system unpopular and inelegant.
My question is: Is it possible to make GNOME stop asking for my password whenever I click on a System Config tool?
No, that's not what I wanted. Isn't there some middle ground between A "user account that has to ask the almighty OS for permission to go to the bathroom" and B "root account with total power to wreck everything"? I just want to enter the password once, on the login screen, and then be able to use the GUI tools to configure my system, like device drivers, software packages, mount partitions, network shares. The GUI tools should be designed with some competence so I am protected from making stupid mistakes like erasing the system partition or leaving my system without a video driver.
I know about sudo bash, but this is GNOME we are talking about. It's a graphical environment, you know, the kind that was invented at Xerox PARC in the 80's. Yes, there are plenty of Linux users who prefer the command line and think anyone who uses a GUI is a drooling moron. I used to have a friend like that, but we don't speak much anymore.
Will there finally be a way to give my user account admin privileges? I mean, like in Windows XP, so I don't have to type in the fucking password every time I do anything? This is easily the most aggravating feature of Linux, since the first month I spent on an new distro I am doing nothing but config stuff. On a related note, what's the point of the keyring applet -- it stores your passwords... but every time it is used, it makes you type in yet another password. What's the point of that?
You call that a rant? :-) Let me have a go! You wrote after my own heart; erm, I mean I agree with you.
Have you ever read Alan Cooper's books on user interaction design? I think they are brilliant. I'm glad I found yet another sensible IT person.
I hate evangelists, wether it's Linux, Religion or other irrational belief they try to ram down your throat.
I'm happy with my current system, an Athlon 1800 with Windows XP. It's stable, runs the software I want, and I'm so used to the interface I don't notice it anymore. I just want something that works. And I have tried many Linux distros over the years, and they all took way too much effort to make them do anything useful or entertaining. I swear for every peripheral or feature, what can be done in one day in Windows will take a week in Linux. (My last Linux box was a RedHat Fedora Core 5 server)
The worst thing about Linux... is that it's not an OS. Linux is a kernel. The distro vendor will patch some version of Torvald's kernel, the nerds will compile the Open Source Software Library, and the (l)users will install the distro on their PCs and then spend all their waking hours trying to get it to work.
The Linux-based OS market is hopelessly fragmented -- not only are there over 100 distros, each of those distros typically releases a new version every 6 months. Each new version is completely incompatible with the software packages from the previous one, it will have new bugs (even some that were fixed in the previous release etc). No two distros work quite alike, either behind the scenes or in the foreground. Experience gained by a user operating Ubuntu is worthless when confronted with a box running RedHat, and vice versa.
Oh, and than there's removable media... Linux just doesn't know how to deal with it, does it?
Contrast that with Windows and Mac: Between 1995 and 2007, there's been Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP and Vista. During that time, any given Linux distro would have released twice as many versions. Apple moves even slower -- there's OS9, and OSX.
Slower is better, and less is more.
The founding fathers saw that creative people were very valuable to society, and should be able to make a living from what they do. That means the CREATORS of music, art and video games should own their idea. What is so blatantly unfair about the recording industry is that the means of production (recording studios, CD presses, distribution system etc.) are monopolized by a few corporations whose only interest is making money, not music. The 85/15 profit sharing split is blatant proof that the system is skewed.
If you are fed up with high prices for CDs, download them, and send the artist $4 per album... if iTunes didn't have this DRM bullshit I would get right into it. (I don't own an iPod)
The Internet is a global network of computers, like the telephone network. Simple.