Looks like Bioware beat the real Diablo II to the shelves, because BG is nothing but combat. In depth? My god, it's... trite. There's nothing more to say than that. It's nothing but combat and town and dungeon crawls. Beautifully rendered scenery that is utterly not interactive. You can't even take a closer look at it like you could with Fallout2 (the smartass descriptions of stop signs and tables were worth it).
Don't even get me started on the utter shallowness of the generic AD&D milieu it uses. Now I know there are creative and thoughtfully designed D&D campaign settings, even within Forgotten Realms, but BG is not one of them. Comes complete with the generic weapon shops, magic shops, and all those kobolds and hobgoblins you've seen in every single other module thrown together by a 13-year-old DM.
Combat's kinda fun in BG, but as for roleplay? *snort* Even the narration is annoying. The presentation couldn't be any more flat, and it's not like I can't read... though the intended audience for BG might not fare so well in that department.
Stop right there. The OEMs are not on trial here. The day Linux is put under a mandatory quota to "help it out" is the day I club the penguin over the head and toss his sorry fdisked carcass off my drive forever.
Nonono, ship it without a TCP/IP stack. Mean ol Linux putting everyone out of business giving tcp/ip stacks away.
Maybe the government should stop chasing this goddam RED HERRING and concentrate on the OEM lockins, vaporware strikes, and strategic buyouts and STOP TELLING ANYONE HOW TO BUILD THE GODDAM OS.
But of course as long as they're after The Enemy, the government is The Good Guy. What simpletons.
Let's imagine NT costs what, 500 bucks per client license? This is chump change to a corporation when you consider how much it costs to pay the HR rep for orientations of each batch of new hires, the cost of filing all their paperwork, ordering their equipment, and sending them to training. That last item is a whopper.
You gotta do all that for every single employee who walks in that door. You get to keep the license when that employee walks out the door.
Yeah it's exhorbitant for SOHO folks and startups. But established companies take reusable licenses as petty change.
Now the cost of downtime and data loss of the Exchange server is another thing, but an altogether different and unheard story. Not connected to the license fees anyhow.
The average windows user won't have to worry about having 100 gigs to deal with it, because by the time they come down to their price range, the next version of Windows will fill most of it up anyway.
Something such as a "warning: non standard page" on every non standrd page should be required by law.
God knows the net sure could use more regulation and laws, right?
It still says Library GPL not Lesser GPL
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glibc 2.1 is out
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· Score: 1
RMS basically wants all developers to use the GPL for libraries, not the LGPL. The difference being that you can't even link your app against a GPL library without GPL'ing your own app. The rationale behind this is that he believes this will give free software an edge over proprietary software, which will be denied the use of superior GPL'd libs.
It's a matter of perspective. RMS sees proprietary software using LGPL libraries as a free ride that isn't returning anything to free software. I'm more inclined to agree with ESR though and say that use of LGPL code in proprietary software gives free software leverage over the commercial code by requiring it to target a specific API. Thus allowing the free software developers to set the standard. It's rather like the power Microsoft wields, with the crucial difference: it's all open and free.
When I can get a mouse and a keyboard for a playstation so that I can play halflife, lemme know. Or when I can use my trackball to play Caesar3 on a PSX. How about Longbow 2, I'd really love to see all those controls on the pad.
Not to mention that I like crisper graphics than what my TV puts out.
Caesar 3 Half Life King's Quest: Mask of Eternity Return to Krondor (DON't buy this title though)
And I don't remember anyone but EA ever distributing the Ultimas.
Always wondered, Apple likes Linux, but hates Be?
on
After Linux-Apple?
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· Score: 1
You got it, it's politics. Jean-Louse Gasse was a director of marketing for Apple before he left for Be. Aside from "Apple" and "Marketing" being oxymorons from the whole period between the 1984 ad and the iMac, there's a lot of bad blood between Gasse and Apple, and not a lot of kind words for Steve Jobs even.
And Be wasn't whining about the specs for the PPC, it's the mainboard specs of PowerMacs he needs, and hasn't been getting.
Exactly how is the Win95 / MacOS easier than KDE?
on
After Linux-Apple?
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· Score: 1
Here's some not aimed at specifically at KDE, but at the OS in general.
Click on a file with an unknown extension (yes i know extensions suck but they're even hints for MIME types). On windows, up pops a window asking what program you want to use to open it, and a checkbox to make it permanent. Demonstrate the equivalent in KDE.
How about volume tracking? Having to use a mount command reminds me of using lpadmin for changing print wheels. Quaint.
How about CD Autoplay? (not my favorite feature but occasionally useful)
How about auto-res, a little tray utility where you can change your screen resolution depth.
How about the Documents folder, which contains the stuff you most recently used.
How about drag-and-drop from the file manager equivalent to file->open in 90% of apps.
I suspect most people will reply that such things are irrelevant or that they "suck" - a corollary to NIH syndrome.
From what I saw of golgotha's screenshots, i saw an interface that looked like the most primitive arcade game shooter. Certainly no chopper sim (a helicopter seems to be implied as the main vehicle here). If I want real-time battlefield tactics in a chopper sim, I'll pick up Longbow 2, thanks. I was also less than wowed by the graphics.
I mean, crack.com's last title used the stunningly original genre of... the side scroller.
Basically, does this game have anything going for it other than that it's public domain?
This just screams out for three little letters: USB
Powered busses [homer drool]
Alpha Centauri Port is a possibility
on
Civ3 For Linux
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· Score: 1
Whu whoah huh, one would think that would be the EASIEST thing to port to a unix environment, but maybe I'm mistaken. Perhaps some kind soul familiar with DirectPlay could post an overview of how it works (no code, someone might want to do a cleanroom implementation)
Fair? If a mac app makes money, it makes money. Some companies don't recoup their investment if they port though. Mac users aren't OWED a damn thing, and it's an insult to mac fans to suggest that they need charity. Because that's what taking a loss is, charity.
Now that Macs are becoming more popular, and have the graphic toolkits (like glide) to target, I imagine you'll see more ports. I just don't want to see Mac support to turn into another affirmative action debate.
They have to do some of their work in-house
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Civ3 For Linux
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· Score: 1
Newer versions of XFree support the mouse wheel. Most apps do not, not out of the box anyhow. Since Linux does not have a standard toolkit, it does not have a standard "scroll" event, so you'll never see a general-purpose scroller. Best you can do is hope Qt and GTK recognize z-axis movement over scrollable components.
These are the same lawmakers protecting us and the rest of the world from an arms race in weapons of mass destruction like CRYPTO.
This is political opportunism by politicians who have made no attempt to understand the issue whatsoever. Unga, chip have number, some no like number, me no like number, people like me.
I should hope Linus will have *some* PnP support there. Between his charmingly antique theories on SMP (the BFL) and disdain of PnP yet wanting to take on the desktop, Linus sure seems to be a conflicted fellow.
Maybe PnP can be a module. Have system calls to get the resources (IRQ, DMA) a device needs, and the module can use isapnp.conf or on the fly PnP or what have you. Of course this is pretty useless if it doesn't come with any distro, since no end-user is going to recompile their kernel if even modular support isn't included.
Even better, firewire is powered. I have no problem with the multitude of connectors on my PC, everything radiates from my PC anyway. It's diving into that scary rat's nest of power connecters, and having to play musical sockets when i run out that I find a pain in the ass. Then there's the problem of having it tethered to two points, data and power. My zip drive is more trouble than it's worth to constantly plug and unplug when i have to throw the brick (even a mini-brick) over to the rat's nest and go on safari...
As far as I've seen, the Johns are the ones they go after with the most vigor, including putting their names and faces in the paper.
But it's not the same situation. Prostitution is a mutual agreement with moral tones many don't agree with. Piracy's theft. Even if you don't agree with the company's moral standing of charging outrageous amounts, there is nothing civilized or right about simply taking what you like if you don't accept the terms of the deal.
Artists get a pittance from the record companies when you buy their albums. When you steal them, they get *nothing*
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Looks like Bioware beat the real Diablo II to the shelves, because BG is nothing but combat. In depth? My god, it's ... trite. There's nothing more to say than that. It's nothing but combat and town and dungeon crawls. Beautifully rendered scenery that is utterly not interactive. You can't even take a closer look at it like you could with Fallout2 (the smartass descriptions of stop signs and tables were worth it).
... though the intended audience for BG might not fare so well in that department.
Don't even get me started on the utter shallowness of the generic AD&D milieu it uses. Now I know there are creative and thoughtfully designed D&D campaign settings, even within Forgotten Realms, but BG is not one of them. Comes complete with the generic weapon shops, magic shops, and all those kobolds and hobgoblins you've seen in every single other module thrown together by a 13-year-old DM.
Combat's kinda fun in BG, but as for roleplay? *snort* Even the narration is annoying. The presentation couldn't be any more flat, and it's not like I can't read
> What if the government required all OEMs
Stop right there. The OEMs are not on trial here. The day Linux is put under a mandatory quota to "help it out" is the day I club the penguin over the head and toss his sorry fdisked carcass off my drive forever.
Nonono, ship it without a TCP/IP stack. Mean ol Linux putting everyone out of business giving tcp/ip stacks away.
Maybe the government should stop chasing this goddam RED HERRING and concentrate on the OEM lockins, vaporware strikes, and strategic buyouts and STOP TELLING ANYONE HOW TO BUILD THE GODDAM OS.
But of course as long as they're after The Enemy, the government is The Good Guy. What simpletons.
Let's imagine NT costs what, 500 bucks per client license? This is chump change to a corporation when you consider how much it costs to pay the HR rep for orientations of each batch of new hires, the cost of filing all their paperwork, ordering their equipment, and sending them to training. That last item is a whopper.
You gotta do all that for every single employee who walks in that door. You get to keep the license when that employee walks out the door.
Yeah it's exhorbitant for SOHO folks and startups. But established companies take reusable licenses as petty change.
Now the cost of downtime and data loss of the Exchange server is another thing, but an altogether different and unheard story. Not connected to the license fees anyhow.
The average windows user won't have to worry about having 100 gigs to deal with it, because by the time they come down to their price range, the next version of Windows will fill most of it up anyway.
God knows the net sure could use more regulation and laws, right?
RMS basically wants all developers to use the GPL for libraries, not the LGPL. The difference being that you can't even link your app against a GPL library without GPL'ing your own app. The rationale behind this is that he believes this will give free software an edge over proprietary software, which will be denied the use of superior GPL'd libs.
It's a matter of perspective. RMS sees proprietary software using LGPL libraries as a free ride that isn't returning anything to free software. I'm more inclined to agree with ESR though and say that use of LGPL code in proprietary software gives free software leverage over the commercial code by requiring it to target a specific API. Thus allowing the free software developers to set the standard. It's rather like the power Microsoft wields, with the crucial difference: it's all open and free.
When I can get a mouse and a keyboard for a playstation so that I can play halflife, lemme know. Or when I can use my trackball to play Caesar3 on a PSX. How about Longbow 2, I'd really love to see all those controls on the pad.
Not to mention that I like crisper graphics than what my TV puts out.
They're in business because of:
Caesar 3
Half Life
King's Quest: Mask of Eternity
Return to Krondor (DON't buy this title though)
And I don't remember anyone but EA ever distributing the Ultimas.
You got it, it's politics. Jean-Louse Gasse was a director of marketing for Apple before he left for Be. Aside from "Apple" and "Marketing" being oxymorons from the whole period between the 1984 ad and the iMac, there's a lot of bad blood between Gasse and Apple, and not a lot of kind words for Steve Jobs even.
And Be wasn't whining about the specs for the PPC, it's the mainboard specs of PowerMacs he needs, and hasn't been getting.
Here's some not aimed at specifically at KDE, but at the OS in general.
Click on a file with an unknown extension (yes i know extensions suck but they're even hints for MIME types). On windows, up pops a window asking what program you want to use to open it, and a checkbox to make it permanent. Demonstrate the equivalent in KDE.
How about volume tracking? Having to use a mount command reminds me of using lpadmin for changing print wheels. Quaint.
How about CD Autoplay? (not my favorite feature but occasionally useful)
How about auto-res, a little tray utility where you can change your screen resolution depth.
How about the Documents folder, which contains the stuff you most recently used.
How about drag-and-drop from the file manager equivalent to file->open in 90% of apps.
I suspect most people will reply that such things are irrelevant or that they "suck" - a corollary to NIH syndrome.
Yes, fix the goddam mpg123 code to make it pre-load the buffer and not try to play when it loads the first damn bit of the first damn byte of the mp3.
Sorry, not cursing at you, but mpg123 in general. kmpg has been annoying me for the longest time with this.
From what I saw of golgotha's screenshots, i saw an interface that looked like the most primitive arcade game shooter. Certainly no chopper sim (a helicopter seems to be implied as the main vehicle here). If I want real-time battlefield tactics in a chopper sim, I'll pick up Longbow 2, thanks. I was also less than wowed by the graphics.
... the side scroller.
I mean, crack.com's last title used the stunningly original genre of
Basically, does this game have anything going for it other than that it's public domain?
Framerate? Please compare with windows on the same machine too, for reference.
Try _Death March_, by the same author. It's like _The Mythical Man Month_ but even more blunt.
This just screams out for three little letters: USB
Powered busses [homer drool]
Whu whoah huh, one would think that would be the EASIEST thing to port to a unix environment, but maybe I'm mistaken. Perhaps some kind soul familiar with DirectPlay could post an overview of how it works (no code, someone might want to do a cleanroom implementation)
Fair? If a mac app makes money, it makes money. Some companies don't recoup their investment if they port though. Mac users aren't OWED a damn thing, and it's an insult to mac fans to suggest that they need charity. Because that's what taking a loss is, charity.
Now that Macs are becoming more popular, and have the graphic toolkits (like glide) to target, I imagine you'll see more ports. I just don't want to see Mac support to turn into another affirmative action debate.
Newer versions of XFree support the mouse wheel. Most apps do not, not out of the box anyhow. Since Linux does not have a standard toolkit, it does not have a standard "scroll" event, so you'll never see a general-purpose scroller. Best you can do is hope Qt and GTK recognize z-axis movement over scrollable components.
These are the same lawmakers protecting us and the rest of the world from an arms race in weapons of mass destruction like CRYPTO.
This is political opportunism by politicians who have made no attempt to understand the issue whatsoever. Unga, chip have number, some no like number, me no like number, people like me.
I should hope Linus will have *some* PnP support there. Between his charmingly antique theories on SMP (the BFL) and disdain of PnP yet wanting to take on the desktop, Linus sure seems to be a conflicted fellow.
Maybe PnP can be a module. Have system calls to get the resources (IRQ, DMA) a device needs, and the module can use isapnp.conf or on the fly PnP or what have you. Of course this is pretty useless if it doesn't come with any distro, since no end-user is going to recompile their kernel if even modular support isn't included.
Actually I bet we'll find that those sturdy russian matches are the size of 2 by 4's
Even better, firewire is powered. I have no problem with the multitude of connectors on my PC, everything radiates from my PC anyway. It's diving into that scary rat's nest of power connecters, and having to play musical sockets when i run out that I find a pain in the ass. Then there's the problem of having it tethered to two points, data and power. My zip drive is more trouble than it's worth to constantly plug and unplug when i have to throw the brick (even a mini-brick) over to the rat's nest and go on safari...
As far as I've seen, the Johns are the ones they go after with the most vigor, including putting their names and faces in the paper.
But it's not the same situation. Prostitution is a mutual agreement with moral tones many don't agree with. Piracy's theft. Even if you don't agree with the company's moral standing of charging outrageous amounts, there is nothing civilized or right about simply taking what you like if you don't accept the terms of the deal.
Artists get a pittance from the record companies when you buy their albums. When you steal them, they get *nothing*
Old Qt license mind you. Even RMS likes the QPL as it is now.