By "he", you mean George Dubya Bush? Three structured coherent paragraphs of text? All at once? That never ever happened in those eight year. I'm sure the teleprompter could have had that text, but it would not have been delivered anywhere close. So let me try to rephrase your content above, the way it might have been delivered:
Dear citizens of America! Today I am shocked... I am sad. I am shocked and sad.... Very...
Those evil-doers attacked America, our nation. Attacked our people, our nation... people... And lives were lost. Those towers in New Yark fell down. Two towers. But, there is a saying: You can fool me twice, but fool me, once, twice... There were two towers, that's what I mean to say. No, three. Four towers. No three... The Pentagon was also attacked.
*whips froth from the corner of his mouth*
But we will not be at a nation of violence, like it was in the old west... wild west. We will not be killers. We will not hunt down and kill those who flew those planes. ehh...
We will rebuild those towers in New Yark. Because we are the greatest nation. America is the greatest nation in the whole world. And I believe we can rebuild, and show that we cannot be attacked, because... And America... And... will build towers twice as high. Very high. There are very many great building companies in America. Because we are the greatest nation.
Really like your business plan! In other words, the year of the desktop Linux is here, but not all people have been enlightened.:-)
Out of curiosity, what is your retreat plan if some customer do return and want their old Windows back? Do you store a backup somehow? Make sure they have original install CDs? Take note of their OEM key, etc? If they lose that stuff, they'd have to pay you another $300-400 for a Windows restore, or what?
I believe there's another guy who ranks higher on the list of notable contributions to that one. Also, there was something about free vs. open source software...:-p
* runs away before the rotten tomatoes come flying *
Yeah, travelling light, with minimum amounts of personal electronics, and a clean loaner laptop from work is definitely standard procedure when going to the US. We're based in Western Europe, if that matters.
Since the other half of the topic of the thread was Reddit...: You'll find that a lot of people frequenting there are not hackers, or not very much into computers at all. The ones that do know a bit of tech, mostly know how to download Windows and apply a crack.
I guess the best way forward is to continue to educate. Linking to RMS' essays, which are all relevant and catching. E.g. 'The right to read' is even more important to highlight now, with new walled gardens, locked devices, and rampant content control popping up everywhere. There's a lot of work to do in this area, and informing more people is a big part of it.
Although a cute comment , I'm guessing you haven't spent a lot of time around these companies . Let me tell you.
First off, they're all very big, so you'll find all of the political spectrum represented . From freedom fighters like you and me to conservative and biased MAFIAA supporters . Who gets to talk to these media cartels is more a toss of a coin.
However, more importantly , they're all about money , and not getting sued out of business. So when somebody's threatening and there's a possibility to make money , these companies will happily negotiate with assholes. Look no further than Google's YouTube. They now have an advanced system triggering on copyrighted content , and offering ads revenue splitting deals to those who claim ownership.
Actually,let's talk about bathrooms for a minute . Why is it that every public toilet stall in the US is designed for exobists? There is at least a foot between the floor and walls, if you're only slightly taller than average you can see over the door without effort , and there's half an inch between the door and frame on both side.
No wonder Americans don't care about privacy. They cannot even take a dump in private .
Wow. I would have mistaken your attack for PMS, but assume "Dan" is not short for Daniella. Talking about socially inept; be careful with those stones and class windows.
> If it fails to gain popularity, then it might as well not exist.
What a daft attitude. However, I find it interesting that it pops up in mobile related topics more than on the desktop.
Imagine some obscure distro going: "Well, if we don't get 100M users, we'll just give up". Or a manager of niche RPM: "If we don't double our download rate by tomorrow, we'll throw in the towel".
Expecting every market, app, or initiative to be another Angry Birds or Google market is unrealistic and unnecessary. There is plenty of room for success in niche products. Take the f-droid market; not big, but certainly an interesting idea if free & open source is your cup of tea.
Actually, the "old guy" is 100% right though. And it refreshing to see that some still have their feet on the ground, rather than their head in the cloud.
I'll top you with this. Luckily, the GPL has traditionally not been splashed in-your-face in most applications. Annoyingly, Android apps with GPL licenses seems to reverse that trend. I wish they would stop.
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
> I don't know why, but once an organization becomes of a certain size, Microsoft is unavoidable.
Second to the money, they main motivator for staying at my current job is that I don't have to use anything MS. In fact, Windows is banned, and you need a higher level clearance to be allowed to run it.
So if it wasn't for these astroturf articles on Slashdot, I might actually forget about it completely. Windows 7 you say, or is it 8 now? I have no idea, I haven't even seen any them. I heard Vista was really crap though, but have been lucky to not have to make up my own opinion about that either.
> You'd be foolish not to use it for everything you buy normally, since these bonuses don't apply to cash.
I guess that was part of the point of the article: We are able to make certain decisions and trade-offs about our privacy. If I deicide that the privacy of my purchases is worth more than $100 to $200 a year, that is not a foolish decision to make.
As has already been mentioned in this thread, the real problem is that many don't think these choices trough, and very often go for the short term gain, or carrot dangling in front of them.
> lol, i love the ubuntu people, that don't know they can just log in as root to do a bunch of things and then log out...
Well, it wasn't that many months ago we had a discussion here, where people were peeing all over the "old Unix beards" who would switch to root to get stuff done. If your wrong intention, distraction, or other mistake will lead you to fuck up, some "are you sure - type your password" message isn't going to make you think twice.
> According to rumors I've heard, this isn't Linux as we know it.
In other words, it's "Meltemi/Linux" or "Nokia/Linux", rather than GNU/Linux. That distinction is becoming more and more clear, as different flavours come out, not including any of the GNU tools. Linux was never anything more than the kernel, while many of the tools and applications on top were usually GNU. If it seems unfamiliar, it's probably because it's missing some of those tools.
Somebody should write the article reminiscing all the "How do I backup my shit" posts. It would be great to see how the question has evolved, what type of data people are concerned about as time goes by, and how the answer never changes. The only variable would be the amount of byte / $ for spinning disks.
(Why DVDs keeps coming back as a suggestion, beats me. At the time of writing, it's at least 6x more expensive ($ / byte) to use 4.7 GB DVD-Rs than the cheapest terabyte HDD. Probably more, since you can never fill the DVDs 100%).
I've never quite understood the hard-on many Americans have for "deals" which this coupon business is part of. If something is on discount and you eat or use lots; sure might get one or two extra if the expiry date allows. Or 2-for-1 while shopping for clothes; why not.
However, going out of your way to collect pieces of paper (or electronic versions) to catch a "good deal"? Seems like you'll spend a lot of energy saving 50 cent on something you might not really need in the first place.
Or letting petty "deals" guide your decision when going for a normal cost event. Actually overheard on mid-tier restaurant somewhere in the US: Older man together with his wife: "So with the special 'chips deal of the day' how many extra chips are we talking about...?"
> tablets, keyboards, stands, other accessory items.
Imagine if there was some kind of invention which would integrate all those into a single unit. Maybe with some kind of hinge between the "tablet" and keyboard so it would stand on its own. You think it would catch on?:-p
> Wouldn't that also mean others would/could know the location of the kids if they left the daycare?
Yes, without the GPS trackers, these kids are as undetectable as a Desert Storm unit. In fact, they are so quiet and stealthy that you can hardly notice them before you step on one.
But seriously, it sounds like you have a bit too much "think of the children" and "be afraid of the pedofiles" on your brain to be healthy. There are no monsters lurking in the bushes, or white vans driving around to snatch your kids.
Well, joke's on you. I have about 20 fake accounts, with obviously stupid names. None of which have gotten disabled. Of course, I wouldn't care whether I lost access or not. When I need to contact somebody on FB, I just create another account.
Here at Slashdot we love our future proof predictions of things which wont happen: "The year of the Linux desktop", "when Duke Nukem Forever is released", etc. However, the last one already happened. Bummer. "When SCO is dead" is the replacement.
Slashdot Mirror
> What he should have said, 11 September 2011
By "he", you mean George Dubya Bush? Three structured coherent paragraphs of text? All at once? That never ever happened in those eight year. I'm sure the teleprompter could have had that text, but it would not have been delivered anywhere close. So let me try to rephrase your content above, the way it might have been delivered:
Dear citizens of America! Today I am shocked... I am sad. I am shocked and sad.... Very...
Those evil-doers attacked America, our nation. Attacked our people, our nation... people... And lives were lost. Those towers in New Yark fell down. Two towers. But, there is a saying: You can fool me twice, but fool me, once, twice... There were two towers, that's what I mean to say. No, three. Four towers. No three... The Pentagon was also attacked.
*whips froth from the corner of his mouth*
But we will not be at a nation of violence, like it was in the old west... wild west. We will not be killers. We will not hunt down and kill those who flew those planes. ehh...
We will rebuild those towers in New Yark. Because we are the greatest nation. America is the greatest nation in the whole world. And I believe we can rebuild, and show that we cannot be attacked, because... And America... And... will build towers twice as high. Very high. There are very many great building companies in America. Because we are the greatest nation.
So bless you all. And God bless America!!
Really like your business plan! In other words, the year of the desktop Linux is here, but not all people have been enlightened. :-)
Out of curiosity, what is your retreat plan if some customer do return and want their old Windows back? Do you store a backup somehow? Make sure they have original install CDs? Take note of their OEM key, etc? If they lose that stuff, they'd have to pay you another $300-400 for a Windows restore, or what?
> GNU Emacs
I believe there's another guy who ranks higher on the list of notable contributions to that one. Also, there was something about free vs. open source software... :-p
* runs away before the rotten tomatoes come flying *
I assume 'here' means US?
Yeah, travelling light, with minimum amounts of personal electronics, and a clean loaner laptop from work is definitely standard procedure when going to the US. We're based in Western Europe, if that matters.
Since the other half of the topic of the thread was Reddit...: You'll find that a lot of people frequenting there are not hackers, or not very much into computers at all. The ones that do know a bit of tech, mostly know how to download Windows and apply a crack.
I guess the best way forward is to continue to educate. Linking to RMS' essays, which are all relevant and catching. E.g. 'The right to read' is even more important to highlight now, with new walled gardens, locked devices, and rampant content control popping up everywhere. There's a lot of work to do in this area, and informing more people is a big part of it.
Upvote this guy.
And here's the words you're looking for. From Wikipedia:
Ephebophilia is the sexual preference of adults for mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19.
Hebephilia refers to the sexual preference for individuals in the early years of puberty (generally ages 11–14, though onset of puberty may vary)
Although a cute comment , I'm guessing you haven't spent a lot of time around these companies . Let me tell you .
First off, they're all very big, so you'll find all of the political spectrum represented . From freedom fighters like you and me to conservative and biased MAFIAA supporters . Who gets to talk to these media cartels is more a toss of a coin.
However, more importantly , they're all about money , and not getting sued out of business. So when somebody's threatening and there's a possibility to make money , these companies will happily negotiate with assholes. Look no further than Google's YouTube. They now have an advanced system triggering on copyrighted content , and offering ads revenue splitting deals to those who claim ownership.
Actually ,let's talk about bathrooms for a minute . Why is it that every public toilet stall in the US is designed for exobists? There is at least a foot between the floor and walls, if you're only slightly taller than average you can see over the door without effort , and there's half an inch between the door and frame on both side.
No wonder Americans don't care about privacy. They cannot even take a dump in private .
Wow. I would have mistaken your attack for PMS, but assume "Dan" is not short for Daniella. Talking about socially inept; be careful with those stones and class windows.
> If it fails to gain popularity, then it might as well not exist.
What a daft attitude. However, I find it interesting that it pops up in mobile related topics more than on the desktop.
Imagine some obscure distro going: "Well, if we don't get 100M users, we'll just give up". Or a manager of niche RPM: "If we don't double our download rate by tomorrow, we'll throw in the towel".
Expecting every market, app, or initiative to be another Angry Birds or Google market is unrealistic and unnecessary. There is plenty of room for success in niche products. Take the f-droid market; not big, but certainly an interesting idea if free & open source is your cup of tea.
http://mthruf.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/kidstoday-e1314808448884.jpg
Actually, the "old guy" is 100% right though. And it refreshing to see that some still have their feet on the ground, rather than their head in the cloud.
Ever heard of the Gillette business model? Yeah, same thing with printers.
In fact, inkjet printers are mentioned as an example in the Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freebie_marketing
> How long has it been since you used windows?
About 10 years, give or take. I didn't realise it was still around. Or as it already gone through its faded cycle, and come back as retro hip?
I'll top you with this. Luckily, the GPL has traditionally not been splashed in-your-face in most applications. Annoyingly, Android apps with GPL licenses seems to reverse that trend. I wish they would stop.
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:
See also:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
> I don't know why, but once an organization becomes of a certain size, Microsoft is unavoidable.
Second to the money, they main motivator for staying at my current job is that I don't have to use anything MS. In fact, Windows is banned, and you need a higher level clearance to be allowed to run it.
So if it wasn't for these astroturf articles on Slashdot, I might actually forget about it completely. Windows 7 you say, or is it 8 now? I have no idea, I haven't even seen any them. I heard Vista was really crap though, but have been lucky to not have to make up my own opinion about that either.
> They said they would stay with Windows 2000, which didn't have that requirement.
I for one did, until I got off and switched to Fedora; actually you'd still install RedHat back then. Never looked back.
However, don't underestimate the influx of young people who haven't seen the light yet. Just give them time. Or better, give them education.
> You'd be foolish not to use it for everything you buy normally, since these bonuses don't apply to cash.
I guess that was part of the point of the article: We are able to make certain decisions and trade-offs about our privacy. If I deicide that the privacy of my purchases is worth more than $100 to $200 a year, that is not a foolish decision to make.
As has already been mentioned in this thread, the real problem is that many don't think these choices trough, and very often go for the short term gain, or carrot dangling in front of them.
> lol, i love the ubuntu people, that don't know they can just log in as root to do a bunch of things and then log out...
Well, it wasn't that many months ago we had a discussion here, where people were peeing all over the "old Unix beards" who would switch to root to get stuff done. If your wrong intention, distraction, or other mistake will lead you to fuck up, some "are you sure - type your password" message isn't going to make you think twice.
> According to rumors I've heard, this isn't Linux as we know it.
In other words, it's "Meltemi/Linux" or "Nokia/Linux", rather than GNU/Linux. That distinction is becoming more and more clear, as different flavours come out, not including any of the GNU tools. Linux was never anything more than the kernel, while many of the tools and applications on top were usually GNU. If it seems unfamiliar, it's probably because it's missing some of those tools.
Somebody should write the article reminiscing all the "How do I backup my shit" posts. It would be great to see how the question has evolved, what type of data people are concerned about as time goes by, and how the answer never changes. The only variable would be the amount of byte / $ for spinning disks.
(Why DVDs keeps coming back as a suggestion, beats me. At the time of writing, it's at least 6x more expensive ($ / byte) to use 4.7 GB DVD-Rs than the cheapest terabyte HDD. Probably more, since you can never fill the DVDs 100%).
I've never quite understood the hard-on many Americans have for "deals" which this coupon business is part of. If something is on discount and you eat or use lots; sure might get one or two extra if the expiry date allows. Or 2-for-1 while shopping for clothes; why not.
However, going out of your way to collect pieces of paper (or electronic versions) to catch a "good deal"? Seems like you'll spend a lot of energy saving 50 cent on something you might not really need in the first place.
Or letting petty "deals" guide your decision when going for a normal cost event. Actually overheard on mid-tier restaurant somewhere in the US: Older man together with his wife: "So with the special 'chips deal of the day' how many extra chips are we talking about...?"
> tablets, keyboards, stands, other accessory items.
Imagine if there was some kind of invention which would integrate all those into a single unit. Maybe with some kind of hinge between the "tablet" and keyboard so it would stand on its own. You think it would catch on? :-p
> Wouldn't that also mean others would/could know the location of the kids if they left the daycare?
Yes, without the GPS trackers, these kids are as undetectable as a Desert Storm unit. In fact, they are so quiet and stealthy that you can hardly notice them before you step on one.
But seriously, it sounds like you have a bit too much "think of the children" and "be afraid of the pedofiles" on your brain to be healthy. There are no monsters lurking in the bushes, or white vans driving around to snatch your kids.
We all grew up just fine, and so will these kids.
Well, joke's on you. I have about 20 fake accounts, with obviously stupid names. None of which have gotten disabled. Of course, I wouldn't care whether I lost access or not. When I need to contact somebody on FB, I just create another account.
Here at Slashdot we love our future proof predictions of things which wont happen: "The year of the Linux desktop", "when Duke Nukem Forever is released", etc. However, the last one already happened. Bummer. "When SCO is dead" is the replacement.