Are they the kind of jobs that people want, though? If 50 executives outsource 1000 high-paying programmer jobs to India, but those 50 execs and their 200 VPs each hire 5 low-paid housekeepers and groundskeepers with the money saved, does this mean we've got a net gain in "jobs"? Not all jobs are equal.
Is there a good Free implementation of Java? I've been looking at the Kaffe project.
Re:The whole recycling system needs to be built
on
Control-Alt-Recycle
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· Score: 1
The theme of my comment is how to effectively prevent the dumping of toxins into the environment.
True, we need to be responsible, and didn't mean to downplay that. But if we get as much use out of the machines as possible before disposing of them (in whatever manner), it means fewer machines have to be produced, which means fewer need to be disposed of. Disposal consumes resources, too.
I disagree with you about the school problem. First of all, not every school is run the same way.
Right. But many, many of them are just like I said. Government-run projects do not lend themselves well to being efficient, because they stifle the competition that fosters efficiency.
Since an Apple ][ is good enough, why do I replace my computers? [...] I need to run Final Cut Pro and Photoshop [...] And, that old P75 will not run Windows XP.
Granted, not everybody's needs will be met by a 10-y.o. PC. But many will. Why spend $400 for new and dispose of the old when you don't have to?
I do it because newer ones use less power
Not always true. I use Apple hardware because they run an OS that improves my workflow - the power savings is a side benefit. But newer generations of computers are not always less power-hungry.
Re:The whole recycling system needs to be built
on
Control-Alt-Recycle
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· Score: 2, Informative
As for donations, the schools in my area won't accept anything less than a Pentium III, so the whole "the only need an old P75" isn't going to work anymore.
That's because school's are run as a bureaucracy, which always seem to think they need the latest/greatest to justify the budget they're given. They don't, of course, but there's no incentive for them not to. (I learned the same basic WP/spreadsheet skills on an Apple ][e that would probably still run if they hadn't thrown it out. You don't need a 3GHz computer for that.) If they were privately funded, it would be a different story.
But I'm getting off-track...
This just means you have to do a little more work on your own. Dropping 'em on the school's curb is easy...anyone can do it. It takes more effort to meet people, build relationships with them, discover if they have a need you can help fill. I've collected a number of x100-era Macs from donors who know I fix them up and give them away, mostly to poorer kids from my church.
I know exactly how you feel. They probably were looking to replace the old P2-300's that came with Win98 installed because they were so crashy. Well guess what, it's not the hardware's fault...just install a decent OS* and the problem is solved. The problem is that techies are often not consulted at all when making these decisions, or if they are, the guy in charge is looking to justify his budget. Sad, really.
*Hint: it's not WinXP, if the "P2-300" wasn't clue enough.
Exactly. I bought a new Mac recently at a retail outlet. No Developer CD. I called the Apple tech support number, and they put it in the mail to me. I'm hoping it's there when I get home tonight. I've got a tracking number, just in case.
Bad enough that I didn't get a basic office suite like everybody else ("Our Pro users didn't use AppleWorks anyway, so we only include it on the Consumer models." Grrr.) but to not get the Developer tools on a Pro machine was outrageous! Especially since that without X11.app, I can't run OpenOffice either. (No way I'm paying for MS Office X.) I'm trying the Abiword preview right now, but it's not the same.
Uhh, its the government borrowing MY money for free (no interest or anything) until I file a return!
I'm glad someone else already said this. Sad though, how some people are so unused to freedom that they happily take the little dribs and drabs that government doles out.
Re:From sSomeone who pitches those PHB's...
on
Why PHBs Fear Linux
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· Score: 1
I've met about ten times as many Linux zealots as I have Windows ones. The Windows guys just don't treat their software like it's a religion, they treat it like a business tool. If there's something better out there, they'll consider it, weigh it, and even implement it if it makes financial sense.
I have to disagree with you. The Windows guys treat their software like it's the only thing they know. "OK, I can get the job done. No big whoop." Linux/Mac/Unix guys treat their software like they know about the (MS) alternative. "Great, I can get the job done, and faster/better/cheaper too!" That's why the zealots are on the Linux/Mac/Unix side of the fence rather than the Windows side. It pays to make an informed decision, rather than dwell in ignorance.
I came across Pad++ while doing research for a paper on web usability. I would have liked to have known about TrailBlazer back then. I might try downloading the dmg this weekend.
I run a web server on a pumped up 68k Mac using NetBSD. It's the only machine I have available for this use. I'd love to run a few simple JSPs on it, but that won't happen because there's no JRE for my platform. If it were open source and I could compile my own runtime, the situation would be different.
Even if someone gave me an old PII-200, my wife would nix the idea of having the big loud thing sit in the corner of our home office. My Mac is small, with a small power supply and cool processor. It has adequate specs to run a capable, albeit slow, application server if it were possible.
Maybe my machine is obsolete, sure. But the point is that even if Java is the king of cross-platform computing, it doesn't mean jack if there's no runtime for many platforms.
In general, I agree that ignorance of the law is no excuse for escaping punishment. However, I believe it ought to be clarified by justice and common sense. Stepping on the grass is hardly something that someone could ever expect to be hauled to jail for, much less face the death penalty for. (Thinking, of couse, of ST:TNG's episode "Justice".) It's possible for laws to be bad. This is why the principle of jury nullification is so important. Sure, you have a say in who gets to make the laws, but people tend to serve their own agendas once in power. The power of the jury is an essential check on the system.
I've been dying to compile and play Tux Racer on my SE/30 for awhile now. As soon as I get done with that, I'm going to compile Celestia so I can explore the solar system at sub-sub-sublight speed.
Hopefully it stays that way. Write your congress-critter. Or run for his/her office yourself.
If the honest people don't want to soil themselves in the dirty political realm, only the grubby people will be involved in making/enforcing the laws. Then we all lose.
A trend I see in American culture is to marginalize people of faith when it comes to the political realm. And people of faith are buying into it, and staying away from political involvement. Think what you like of organized religion itself, but the average church-going Joe has more level-headed common sense than many politicians. They're the kind of people that should be running for office. The kind that identify a problem, run for office to make a difference, and then get out when the job is done - not the kind that seek the glory/power of the position itself.
Hm, didn't intend to get off on that tangent. But it is sad that we seem to be telling large sections of the talent pool to get out of the water.
Not really. It gives the illusion of being better than plurality voting and almost-as-good-as Condorcet - and that's arguably worse than the current situation.
Regarding complexity vs technical advantages, I think that as long as ballot casting is simple, ballot counting can be a little more complex. ("Yes sir, you can independently and manually verify these results. It's just going to be slow and tedious. But look how easy it is to vote! Just one, two, three!") Most people cannot even understand how our current (plurality) system is deficient. (No shame to them, they're just not used to putting much thought toward it.) If those who care enough to look critically at such things (like you and me) advocate a superior system, those who simply can't be bothered will listen to what we say...hopefully. So I think we're obliged to advocate the best possible alternative. If we present each of the shortcomings of other systems point by point at a level that's intuitive, with simple examples that illustrate those shortcomings, people will buy in - even if they don't like "math".
Only if living in American climate, American culture, American political/legal system, near to your family and friends has no value to you. Materially you might be better off, yes. Perhaps you would prefer Indian climate and culture, yes. Maybe you don't even like your family and friends that much and wouldn't mind moving 10 timezones away. But for most people, this is a drastic step.
Can I feign ignorance? "Sorry, officer. I was just trying to use legitimate stylistic commands that render so nicely in Netscape/Opera/Safari/etc. I had no idea that Microsoft's browser was so buggy."
As of right now, it seems the last successful mac68k build was the one on March 3. So that's the snapshot I'd want to download. Is there a list of changes from 1.6.2 posted somewhere, so I can see if this is something I want to do, based on new features/fixes? Or is that something that's only provided with releases?
I was about to download the 1.6.2 tarballs to update my SE/30. I also wanted to update my gcc installation to 3.3.x for compiling MySQL and some other tools. How stable is -current? Perhaps I should look at that instead.
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I'm not guaranteed a fat pipe in the future. If I move and have to reinstall, I want a CD, not a 10-hour ordeal.
Are they the kind of jobs that people want, though? If 50 executives outsource 1000 high-paying programmer jobs to India, but those 50 execs and their 200 VPs each hire 5 low-paid housekeepers and groundskeepers with the money saved, does this mean we've got a net gain in "jobs"? Not all jobs are equal.
Is there a good Free implementation of Java? I've been looking at the Kaffe project.
True, we need to be responsible, and didn't mean to downplay that. But if we get as much use out of the machines as possible before disposing of them (in whatever manner), it means fewer machines have to be produced, which means fewer need to be disposed of. Disposal consumes resources, too.
Right. But many, many of them are just like I said. Government-run projects do not lend themselves well to being efficient, because they stifle the competition that fosters efficiency.
Granted, not everybody's needs will be met by a 10-y.o. PC. But many will. Why spend $400 for new and dispose of the old when you don't have to?
Not always true. I use Apple hardware because they run an OS that improves my workflow - the power savings is a side benefit. But newer generations of computers are not always less power-hungry.
That's because school's are run as a bureaucracy, which always seem to think they need the latest/greatest to justify the budget they're given. They don't, of course, but there's no incentive for them not to. (I learned the same basic WP/spreadsheet skills on an Apple ][e that would probably still run if they hadn't thrown it out. You don't need a 3GHz computer for that.) If they were privately funded, it would be a different story.
But I'm getting off-track...
This just means you have to do a little more work on your own. Dropping 'em on the school's curb is easy...anyone can do it. It takes more effort to meet people, build relationships with them, discover if they have a need you can help fill. I've collected a number of x100-era Macs from donors who know I fix them up and give them away, mostly to poorer kids from my church.
I know exactly how you feel. They probably were looking to replace the old P2-300's that came with Win98 installed because they were so crashy. Well guess what, it's not the hardware's fault...just install a decent OS* and the problem is solved. The problem is that techies are often not consulted at all when making these decisions, or if they are, the guy in charge is looking to justify his budget. Sad, really.
*Hint: it's not WinXP, if the "P2-300" wasn't clue enough.
w00t! Thank you very much! I will have development tools! Hmm, no X11 installer though - just X11SDK.
(Ten minutes later...)
I can't find that any of these apps were installed, except gcc. Doesn't the installer put them in /Applications?
Exactly. I bought a new Mac recently at a retail outlet. No Developer CD. I called the Apple tech support number, and they put it in the mail to me. I'm hoping it's there when I get home tonight. I've got a tracking number, just in case.
Bad enough that I didn't get a basic office suite like everybody else ("Our Pro users didn't use AppleWorks anyway, so we only include it on the Consumer models." Grrr.) but to not get the Developer tools on a Pro machine was outrageous! Especially since that without X11.app, I can't run OpenOffice either. (No way I'm paying for MS Office X.) I'm trying the Abiword preview right now, but it's not the same.
I'm glad someone else already said this. Sad though, how some people are so unused to freedom that they happily take the little dribs and drabs that government doles out.
I have to disagree with you. The Windows guys treat their software like it's the only thing they know. "OK, I can get the job done. No big whoop." Linux/Mac/Unix guys treat their software like they know about the (MS) alternative. "Great, I can get the job done, and faster/better/cheaper too!" That's why the zealots are on the Linux/Mac/Unix side of the fence rather than the Windows side. It pays to make an informed decision, rather than dwell in ignorance.
I came across Pad++ while doing research for a paper on web usability. I would have liked to have known about TrailBlazer back then. I might try downloading the dmg this weekend.
Is it anything like Pad++? These ideas aren't exactly new.
I run a web server on a pumped up 68k Mac using NetBSD. It's the only machine I have available for this use. I'd love to run a few simple JSPs on it, but that won't happen because there's no JRE for my platform. If it were open source and I could compile my own runtime, the situation would be different.
Even if someone gave me an old PII-200, my wife would nix the idea of having the big loud thing sit in the corner of our home office. My Mac is small, with a small power supply and cool processor. It has adequate specs to run a capable, albeit slow, application server if it were possible.
Maybe my machine is obsolete, sure. But the point is that even if Java is the king of cross-platform computing, it doesn't mean jack if there's no runtime for many platforms.
In general, I agree that ignorance of the law is no excuse for escaping punishment. However, I believe it ought to be clarified by justice and common sense. Stepping on the grass is hardly something that someone could ever expect to be hauled to jail for, much less face the death penalty for. (Thinking, of couse, of ST:TNG's episode "Justice".) It's possible for laws to be bad. This is why the principle of jury nullification is so important. Sure, you have a say in who gets to make the laws, but people tend to serve their own agendas once in power. The power of the jury is an essential check on the system.
Not too many new features? Implementation of CSS3 opacity is a pretty nifty deal. I've been looking forward to it for a long time.
I've been dying to compile and play Tux Racer on my SE/30 for awhile now. As soon as I get done with that, I'm going to compile Celestia so I can explore the solar system at sub-sub-sublight speed.
Hopefully it stays that way. Write your congress-critter. Or run for his/her office yourself.
If the honest people don't want to soil themselves in the dirty political realm, only the grubby people will be involved in making/enforcing the laws. Then we all lose.
A trend I see in American culture is to marginalize people of faith when it comes to the political realm. And people of faith are buying into it, and staying away from political involvement. Think what you like of organized religion itself, but the average church-going Joe has more level-headed common sense than many politicians. They're the kind of people that should be running for office. The kind that identify a problem, run for office to make a difference, and then get out when the job is done - not the kind that seek the glory/power of the position itself.
Hm, didn't intend to get off on that tangent. But it is sad that we seem to be telling large sections of the talent pool to get out of the water.
Not really. It gives the illusion of being better than plurality voting and almost-as-good-as Condorcet - and that's arguably worse than the current situation.
Regarding complexity vs technical advantages, I think that as long as ballot casting is simple, ballot counting can be a little more complex. ("Yes sir, you can independently and manually verify these results. It's just going to be slow and tedious. But look how easy it is to vote! Just one, two, three!") Most people cannot even understand how our current (plurality) system is deficient. (No shame to them, they're just not used to putting much thought toward it.) If those who care enough to look critically at such things (like you and me) advocate a superior system, those who simply can't be bothered will listen to what we say...hopefully. So I think we're obliged to advocate the best possible alternative. If we present each of the shortcomings of other systems point by point at a level that's intuitive, with simple examples that illustrate those shortcomings, people will buy in - even if they don't like "math".
Only if living in American climate, American culture, American political/legal system, near to your family and friends has no value to you. Materially you might be better off, yes. Perhaps you would prefer Indian climate and culture, yes. Maybe you don't even like your family and friends that much and wouldn't mind moving 10 timezones away. But for most people, this is a drastic step.
Want real representation? Check out Condorcet Voting.
Can I feign ignorance? "Sorry, officer. I was just trying to use legitimate stylistic commands that render so nicely in Netscape/Opera/Safari/etc. I had no idea that Microsoft's browser was so buggy."
I'm subscribed to the mac68k list. Maybe I will ask there if anyone else uses -current and what their experience is.
As of right now, it seems the last successful mac68k build was the one on March 3. So that's the snapshot I'd want to download. Is there a list of changes from 1.6.2 posted somewhere, so I can see if this is something I want to do, based on new features/fixes? Or is that something that's only provided with releases?
I was about to download the 1.6.2 tarballs to update my SE/30. I also wanted to update my gcc installation to 3.3.x for compiling MySQL and some other tools. How stable is -current? Perhaps I should look at that instead.
2004-03-02 16:26:29 NetBSD 1.6.2 (bsd,news) (rejected)
No, I'm not bitter. Just confused about slashdot's schizophrenia. But that's nothing new.