I'm not so sure. With Ubuntu offering 5 years of updates they look pretty attractive for server work.
A company I worked for had a RedHat 8.0 server colocated in a data center. After about 6-9 months it became a bitch to update the thing. In the end the fix was simply to visit the facility, drop in a Debian box for a couple of hours and switch the server to Debian.
Granted we didn't pay RedHat for support and I know that was an option. But Debian* keeps updates available for a long time regardless of whether you buy it or dl it. And now with Ubunutu offering to do so for 5 years, that's a pretty compelling reason to use it for servers.
* I was able to convince my company to pay for Debian through 0 bits. I just didn't mention that Debian was different and updates would be available even without paying... Some things PHB's don't need to know.
Ah it's Monday and I can't be bothered to sit and discuss each of your points. But one thing I will say...
Linux columnists like to talk about how Linux is ready for the desktop, but it's just not.
Regardless of what your experience has been, regardless of what columnists say the fact is I run Ubuntu on three computers in my house, for me, my wife and my kids. And my mother uses it too.
And out of those four machines I am the only user who knows "what a Linux is". The most insightful comment I got from my clueless but happy Linux users was from my daughter... "Oooh, it looks kind of like Aunt Mysha's Mac!".
"Ready for the desktop" is a relative statement anyway, but me, I think Ubuntu is ready. More telling still; so does my mom.:-)
I really didn't have any problems with X or wifi when I recently installed Dapper.
But seeing a number of posts to the contrary I wonder if Debian's recent work on making x.org the default for Etch has anything to do with Debian based distros experiencing hiccups with X? All in all I've had very little trouble with Ubuntu since I first tried Hoary Hedgehog but then again I've only put it on slightly older boxes with pretty standard hardware. From the grumblings I'm hearing it would seem it does have some trouble with bleeding edge hardware. Then again what OS doesn't?
Anyway, with 5 years of support to depend on Ubuntu is starting to make a lot more sense for use on servers.
From a legal standpoint you are absolutely correct. And I did read your post not with a clinical eye toward the point you were trying to make but with a "even if you think copyright infringement is wrong doesn't make the *AA right" attitude.
Sorry if I came across as argumentative; I tend to get a bit hyper about these things!
I agree with your sentiment but there are ways around the issue you describe without resorting to legislation.
For example in IE you can set an option on the Advanced tab to not search from the address bar. Or you could install NetNanny or something similar. I know these aren't perfect options but a little public education and parental responsibility seems to me to be a better place to start then passing laws like this.
Again the cries of "someone needs to think of the children" seem to drown out all common sense and parental responsibility. As long as people insist on Congress playing guardians to their children we will continue to see our rights eroded as legislation such is this is eventually used for other then the intended purpose.
I understand your position and whether I agree with you or not is not something I want to get into at the moment.
I would simply like to point out that had the *AA folks come at this problem with a reasonable course of action and used the law to make their case instead of their corporate clout and deep pockets then I would be the first to jump to their defense against copyright infringement.
But they've taken what should be simple criminal investigations and turned them into a media circus. The laws on the books (in the US anyway) still differentiate between straight theft and copyright infringement. But the *AA doesn't. In criminal cases a person is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. A person (again, in the USA) is supposed to be free from illegal search and seizure and undue harassment from authorities.
The *AA organizations completely ignore that. They harass, threaten, obtain evidence illegally and then smear peoples names all over the press regardless of the merits, or lack thereof, of their cases.
Regardless of one's opinion concerning copyright infringement the actions of the *AA are shameless bullying. And the fact that our judicial system lets them get away with it is the saddest part of the whole affair.
Even if Hogan is guilty of copyright infringement it will be nice to see someone make the MPAA take him through the entire judicial process and have a court find him guilty instead of seeing another poor sap bow to the threats and extortion tactics we've witnessed so far and simply buy their way out of the case, regardless of their guilt or innocence.
But bottom line? I have no problem believing this guy is innocent and just another victim of *AA fishing expeditions. IMHO there are too many precedents to think otherwise.
If OEMs want to sell PCs, yes Microsoft pretty much does get a say in what software comes preinstalled. They can't use it to pressure OEMs as much as they used to, but they don't really have to anymore. As available and widely used as OSs like Linux and OSX are these days, off the shelf vendors are still primarily interested in selling PCs with Windows. And, as another poster stated, MS doesn't really have to refuse anyone software to preinstall without hurting them, they just have to up the price a bit.
They'll get a way with it less and less as time goes by, partly through regulation and partly through a continual adoption of the alternatives, but for now they still have a pretty persuasive hold over OEMs.
But hell over with Mr Blair's favourite friend in Washington people are being sent to a "camp" which is beyond the juristriction of all law and can come from much less evidential grounds than the ASBOs
Yes but the U.S. Supreme just found that illegal. It took them way too long to do it, but it shouldn't (too pessimistic to say won't) happen anymore. I only hope that this completely unfair addition to their laws gets overturned sooner in the UK.
Nice post. Completely worthy of the Insightful mod. And I pretty much agree with all of it.
Best line in the whole thing though:
Jail time in Gitmo otherwise.
Ah, thanks. You made my Friday...
(and for those of you whose EmotiMeter (patent pending) is not working I am not being sarcastic, I totally agree with the post and while it may seem over the top "jail time in gitmo" actually seems appropriate given the current patent situation in the US).
Slashdot Mirror
Wait, hold on just a sec! How is this not relevent?
I'm not so sure. With Ubuntu offering 5 years of updates they look pretty attractive for server work.
A company I worked for had a RedHat 8.0 server colocated in a data center. After about 6-9 months it
became a bitch to update the thing. In the end the fix was simply to visit the facility, drop in a
Debian box for a couple of hours and switch the server to Debian.
Granted we didn't pay RedHat for support and I know that was an option. But Debian* keeps updates
available for a long time regardless of whether you buy it or dl it. And now with Ubunutu offering
to do so for 5 years, that's a pretty compelling reason to use it for servers.
* I was able to convince my company to pay for Debian through 0 bits.
I just didn't mention that Debian was different and updates would be available even without paying... Some things
PHB's don't need to know.
Oh and here I thought .6 or .9 of a device was just short hand for the new "iPod Killer" MS is coming out with...
I wonder what affect, if any, this will have upon the future development of the OpenGL standard.
Well reading TFA and not finding Microsoft on either their promoters page or their contributors page I'm cautiously optimistic.
** affect? effect? I can never keep this one straight either.
Hmm, well, if you won't discuss my points just because it's a Monday, they must not be valid.
Absolutely. Your points were not valid.
Ah it's Monday and I can't be bothered to sit and discuss each of your points. But one thing I will say...
:-)
Linux columnists like to talk about how Linux is ready for the desktop, but it's just not.
Regardless of what your experience has been, regardless of what columnists say the fact is I run Ubuntu on three computers in my house, for me, my wife and my kids. And my mother uses it too.
And out of those four machines I am the only user who knows "what a Linux is". The most insightful comment I got from my clueless but happy Linux users was from my daughter... "Oooh, it looks kind of like Aunt Mysha's Mac!".
"Ready for the desktop" is a relative statement anyway, but me, I think Ubuntu is ready. More telling still; so does my mom.
I really didn't have any problems with X or wifi when I recently installed Dapper.
But seeing a number of posts to the contrary I wonder if Debian's recent work on making x.org the default for Etch has anything to do with Debian based distros experiencing hiccups with X? All in all I've had very little trouble with Ubuntu since I first tried Hoary Hedgehog but then again I've only put it on slightly older boxes with pretty standard hardware. From the grumblings I'm hearing it would seem it does have some trouble with bleeding edge hardware. Then again what OS doesn't?
Anyway, with 5 years of support to depend on Ubuntu is starting to make a lot more sense for use on servers.
Thanks Mark!
Ok, someone has to say it... Duh!
From a legal standpoint you are absolutely correct. And I did read your post not with a clinical eye toward the point you were trying to make but with a "even if you think copyright infringement is wrong doesn't make the *AA right" attitude.
Sorry if I came across as argumentative; I tend to get a bit hyper about these things!
I agree with your sentiment but there are ways around the issue you describe without resorting to legislation.
For example in IE you can set an option on the Advanced tab to not search from the address bar. Or you could install NetNanny or something similar. I know these aren't perfect options but a little public education and parental responsibility seems to me to be a better place to start then passing laws like this.
Again the cries of "someone needs to think of the children" seem to drown out all common sense and parental responsibility. As long as people insist on Congress playing guardians to their children we will continue to see our rights eroded as legislation such is this is eventually used for other then the intended purpose.
They must have some big trucks, um, tubes that is in France!
I made him my bitch back in '97!
I understand your position and whether I agree with you or not is not something I want to get into at the moment.
I would simply like to point out that had the *AA folks come at this problem with a reasonable course of action
and used the law to make their case instead of their corporate clout and deep pockets then I would be the first
to jump to their defense against copyright infringement.
But they've taken what should be simple criminal investigations and turned them into a media circus. The laws on
the books (in the US anyway) still differentiate between straight theft and copyright infringement. But the *AA
doesn't. In criminal cases a person is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. A person (again, in the USA)
is supposed to be free from illegal search and seizure and undue harassment from authorities.
The *AA organizations completely ignore that. They harass, threaten, obtain evidence illegally and then smear
peoples names all over the press regardless of the merits, or lack thereof, of their cases.
Regardless of one's opinion concerning copyright infringement the actions of the *AA are shameless bullying. And
the fact that our judicial system lets them get away with it is the saddest part of the whole affair.
Even if Hogan is guilty of copyright infringement it will be nice to see someone make the MPAA take him through the
entire judicial process and have a court find him guilty instead of seeing another poor sap bow to the threats and
extortion tactics we've witnessed so far and simply buy their way out of the case, regardless of their guilt or
innocence.
But bottom line? I have no problem believing this guy is innocent and just another victim of *AA fishing expeditions.
IMHO there are too many precedents to think otherwise.
If OEMs want to sell PCs, yes Microsoft pretty much does get a say in what software comes preinstalled. They can't use it to pressure OEMs as much as they used to, but they don't really have to anymore. As available and widely used as OSs like Linux and OSX are these days, off the shelf vendors are still primarily interested in selling PCs with Windows. And, as another poster stated, MS doesn't really have to refuse anyone software to preinstall without hurting them, they just have to up the price a bit.
They'll get a way with it less and less as time goes by, partly through regulation and partly through a continual adoption of the alternatives, but for now they still have a pretty persuasive hold over OEMs.
Yes I don't think it can be stressed enough how very upset we are by this unfortunate development.
We're doing our best to remedy the situation as we speak. Please excuse our dust while we renovate!
Curiously, both have dominant but benevolent personalities in charge...
:-)
That's the nicest thing I've ever heard anyone say about Theo!
even being arrested for a crime (not convicted, and even if your record is expunged) can/will prevent you from sitting as a juror.
Ah, so there's an upside!
At least Kevin was actually convicted first.
But hell over with Mr Blair's favourite friend in Washington people are being sent to a "camp" which is beyond the juristriction of all law and can come from much less evidential grounds than the ASBOs
Yes but the U.S. Supreme just found that illegal. It took them way too long to do it, but it shouldn't (too pessimistic to say won't) happen anymore. I only hope that this completely unfair addition to their laws gets overturned sooner in the UK.
Would have modded this funny but I must be tired because my sarcasmo-meter is not working.
:-)
Somebody could type in "l337 hax0rs hax" and end up at a malware site.
Surely if that is the query then they *want* to end up at a malware site?
(O.K. Feel free to follow up with the "whoosh" comments now).
That is a good point. Kind of invalidates my little tangent remark. :-)
But I do skip the commercials when I watch Adult Swim (but I do watch the bumps... love the bumps!).
Nice post. Completely worthy of the Insightful mod. And I pretty much agree with all of it.
Best line in the whole thing though:
Jail time in Gitmo otherwise.
Ah, thanks. You made my Friday...
(and for those of you whose EmotiMeter (patent pending) is not working I am not being sarcastic, I totally agree with the post
and while it may seem over the top "jail time in gitmo" actually seems appropriate given the current patent situation in the US).
Thanks. What would I do without all you people correcting my cheap pop culture references?
Turns out I saw Robot Chicken (without commercials, thanks to my DVR!) like the other day and
it's been a while for CWO.
Good movie though... Thanks again guys.
I'm waiting for someone to post that incentivise is a perfectly cromulent word.
:-)
Incentivise is a perfectly cromulent word. Personally I find that utilizing large words embiggens us all.
Ooh, and little things to hold open your eyelids and ears...
Robot Chicken fan?