Personally, despite some wonderful new features, I'm going to stick with 8.04 for a bit, at least until they work out the bugs. Of course, I won't ever be prompted to upgrade to 8.10, because 8.04 is a long term support release. Having a look at the release notes, at least one unacceptable (for me) bug is:
On laptops with Intel 3945 or Intel 4965 wireless chipsets and a killswitch for the wireless antenna, starting the system with the killswitch enabled (i.e., with wireless disabled) will prevent re-enabling the wireless by toggling the killswitch. As a workaround, users should boot the system with the killswitch disabled. A future kernel update is expected to address this issue.
Considering the regression from 7.10 with the wireless lights (it used to be a light would flash when transmitting data, now the light never even shows (known bug)), maybe they should have a long look at their wireless system.
Oh, and the CD eject bug...
Yeah, I would like to have the latest GNOME, and OOo 3 without installing backports, but honestly, I don't think I'll bother.
I mean, if I can't use my Gmail address to logon to websites that actually support OpenID, then why would I bother? Not only that though, does it support non Google addresses hosted on Google Apps? (E.g. sexygrrl@example.com)? If not, then even bigger fuck off to it.
Meh, sounds a bit like another "Passport", fuck that, I don't want a big (or little) corporation controlling my ID.
Anyway for the ignorant and lazy:
OpenID is a shared identity service, which allows Internet users to log on to many different web sites using a single digital identity, single sign-on, eliminating the need for a different user name and password for each site. OpenID is a decentralized, free and open standard that lets users control the amount of personal information they provide.
No I'm not a capitalist. I'm a socialist (all anarchists are, "anarcho"-capitalists aren't anarchists).
Man isn't anything much "inherently", but when raised in a "good" environment, tends to be "good". Compare the number of random lynchings in the USA today compared to 100 years ago. The nature of man didn't change, society did.
Society is a strong influence on people, and in an anarchist society, even if they try and take other people's freedoms away*, society would stop them.
* They would be conditioned by society not to, just like people in this society are conditioned not to steal. Except that the conditioning would probably be better because there would be no reason to take away other's freedoms, yet now there is a lot of incentive to steal. Especially when corporations steal from us everyday.
If you are interested in learning more about anarchism, check out my "homepage", where there are lots of anarchists (as well as various Marxists, Leninsts and even a few capitalists). I've got the same username there as well.
Personally, I think it makes a lot more sense then libertarianism, but whatever:).
As to not wanting to explain my philosophy, I've done it many times before, it gets a bit boring after a bit.:)
Kapor is in his element now, fluent, thoroughly in command in his material. "You go tell a hardware Internet hacker that everyone should have a node on the Net," he says, "and the first thing they're going to say is, 'IP doesn't scale!'" ("IP" is the interface protocol for the Internet. As it currently exists, the IP software is simply not capable of indefinite expansion; it will run out of usable addresses, it will saturate.) "The answer," Kapor says, "is: evolve the protocol! Get the smart people together and figure out what to do. Do we add ID? Do we add new protocol? Don't just say, we can't do it."
I'm an anarchist. I hate capitalism because it removes freedom. It is a hierarchical system, reliant on the state. Capitalism is freedom only for a few, where as I want freedom for everyone.
I don't have a problem with competition as such. And competition isn't the same as capitalism (neither are markets). Capitalism is a complex economic system that is much more then just markets and competition. There as to be the "right" to unlimited ownership of resources, the "right" to own land which isn't being used by the "owner", the "right" to collect rent and interest, be able to make a profit beyond what it cost to make a product (as opposed to "Cost the limit of price"), etc.
As for the other stuff, OK. I'm not really interested in getting into a long debate about browsers and what their makers get from making them. I don't agree with everything you wrote, but whatever.
Please explain? Just calling me a hypocrite automatically gets you +5, but let's see you justify your assertion.
I didn't choose to be born in this system, yet I am forced to live in it. Going off into the woods will not let me escape government and capitalism (governments will tax you if they can, land tax, or whatever, and if you don't own the land, they'll do you for trespass). And even if I could, it isn't plausible for all those who object to the system to up and leave. Leave hospitals, schools etc.
OK, so I can't leave, what can I do? Make do with the position I'm forced into.
So go on justify your claim that I'm a hypocrite for using technology (even when I never said anything about it), even when I hate capitalism. I bet you would saying something about capitalism producing the technology. Does that mean you endorse slavery because the USA was built upon it? Oh, and capitalism isn't the only system to have produced technology... I bet you support feudalism because guns were invented in that time.
A "western" "developed" (capitalist) country, English speaking (in the main), and a relatively small population. Things can be tested out and tried, and if there are objections, then these can be taken into consideration before (if) the product ever makes it to market.
Potentially pissing off 21 million people is a lot better then potentially pissing off 60 million or 300 million.
Why not New Zealand? Well, maybe less then five million people means that the sample size isn't quite big enough? I don't know.
I'm not a capitalist (or even a real supporter of "markets"), but actually when it comes down to it, in situations such as these, competition is good.
And what's amazing, and completely against capitalism, none of these web browser makers are charging any money for their products! All this great software is being developed and given away for free!
That's gotta be evidence that capitalism isn't the be all and end all...
------
On the topic of the actual browser under discussion, how many people are actually going to try it out? I guess because it won't fuck up your current FireFox install a few people will. And considering that I use Epiphany sometimes, maybe I could swap it out for this?
What features is it missing for those who have tried it? What can't you do? Is it better then Epiphany UI-wise?
And they are then free to resell, or even to give away your work. All that hard work and the bastards are just giving it away for free!
Wait, maybe the GPL is about being free. (Free speech, and free beer. CentOS is the perfect example of the GPL in action. Even if RedHat already give away the source to everyone.)
Of course all that information that in that vast government database won't be abused by curious government workers. Whatever gave you the idea that it would?
The fact that it is people (who are always going to be curious, even if not malicious) who have access to these records means that they aren't going to be private. (Not to mention, I've got something to hide ("I like to watch") that I don't want the spooks to know about.)
OpenOffice.org 3 sounds like it's going to be great. And I'll start using it as soon as it shows up in the Ubuntu repository and I get prompted to update. Until then, I guess I won't. I guess that a lot of other people are having similar thoughts. (Not to mention, consider the number of MS Windows users compared to all non-MS Windows users, of course the majority of downloads are going to be for MS Windows.)
As for price, price is not a factor in me not using MS Windows (I just don't like it compared to GNOME, etc.). However, given the choice between MS Office and OpenOffice.org, it is.
However, it isn't the only thing, I just prefer OOo. I've been using it for a good number of years (and the only thing that used to piss me off was not being able to word count selections, they fixed that), and I've gotten used to the little quirks.
It also does things simply better! Take creating a business card, MS Word doesn't even come with a template for that job! (Not that OOo makes it easy... Why no bottom and right margin setting?)
Zero day exploits for browsers? Sure they exist, but unless you browse the seedy parts of the Internet you aren't going to get hit. Even then, it is still safer to run FireFox then MSIE on XP. (Never used Vista, not terribly interested in it either. However, if MSIE can be run in protected mode, does that mean that other programs can be too? Can you run MSIE not in protected mode? Do non-geeks know the difference?)
Firewalls are to protect you from things coming in. NAT doesn't do that. NAT just hides things, but if you know the port that is associated with the computer behind the NAT, you can still get it. A firewall will stop that attack. Don't relay on NAT to protect you.
Maybe "Lookout!" has improved over the years. But once bitten twice shy as they say. Will it still auto-execute payloads when simply previewing new emails?
When I say ads, I mean an ad for the program. That is, don't click on a shiny add saying "your computer is at risk!". Not, don't download software from websites that have ads.
And finally, that link is good. There is a lot of good advice. Yes users are ignorant and don't want to learn. In that case, you may as well forget about helping them unless they run a live CD and lock down their computer. Yeah right.
Sure, if you want to use Bit Torrent you have to set an exception in your firewall. Except that, I'm guessing that if you're a geek you know how to do that, and most geeks aren't going to be using Bit Torrent. (And even though I'm a geek, I've only ever downloaded one thing using it.)
And using Wireless, the router should have that firewall enabled too. Yup, you have to also forward all requests for the Bit Torrent port to your computer. It isn't that hard for someone who isn't closed minded. (Funny thing, most intelligent people are open minded enough to learn (even for only the few hours required) how to manipulate things like firewalls. You could use the analogy of an apartment building, where you need a key to get past the mail boxes.)
Umm, maybe you could switch to touch screens instead?
Or only use computer voting for those with special needs (people who can't see so well, so the machine can read the candidates name), and use machine readable ballot papers for everyone else.
Indeed. When I run MS Windows (not very often if I can help it), I never use anti-virus. Indeed, I consider it a waste of time and money (not to mention system resources).
Of course, you should always make sure you have a working firewall before connecting to the Internet. I find that the built in MS Windows firewall works well enough, so long as it is enabled.
Then, make sure not to run MSIE (at all except on sites you control, and even then...), instead run an alternative (Firefox is popular for some reason, Opera I've heard is good, not that I use it). Another email client (instead of MS Outlook Express or MS Outlook) is also a must if you are using POP or IMAP.
As also mentioned, don't download and run random programs from the web. You have to know how to evaluate the trustworthiness or otherwise of the website. (One thing I love about Ubuntu is that there are so many programs in the repositories, I haven't downloaded a program from a website in over a year. Want a game, fire up Synaptic and browse the hundreds of free games available. Want a MUD client, there are at least five available. Etc.) Knowing how to evaluate the trustworthiness or otherwise of a website is a mix of common sense and understanding of security. It maybe better to ask your local computer geek before downloading random programs.
So, to sum up:
Firewall blocking all incoming connections
Alternative web browser (not based on MSIE) and email client
Don't download and run random programs (especially not from websites linked to from ads)
Learn about computer security
Considering that most people I know don't do much more with their computers then surf the Web, check their email and use some office software, you don't need much more than what I outlined above.
Of course China and India have the largest cell phone populations in the world... They have more then 1 third of the worlds population between them.
(Know why more people are using cell phones and not land lines? It's a shit load easier to throw up towers then to run cables. And a shit load easier to guard against people stealing the metal for raw materials.)
Cell phones are great for poor people, especially farmers. They can ring up potential buyers before travelling a day to market. (They might travel south instead of north.) I've also read that they are used to send money back home for people (from the country side who live) in cities. They buy cell phone credit, then they ring a fellow in the home village and tell him the voucher number, and he types it into his phone and gets the credit, and then gives that amount of money (minus a small fee) to the family.
Not to mention, with a scrip program it should be very easy to chuck a function in that displays the source for the Python program currently running.
It doesn't do much, but does allow that little bit of extra openness.
I seriously don't understand why it is so hard to create a software program that can easily add one to a database as required (a vote.) Especially when you have first-past-the-post, you don't even have to worry about preferences (though from a "democracy" perspective first-past-the-post is really bad).
All these problems with Diabold (now known as Premier Electoral Systems) smacks of corruption, rather then incompetence. Because it is so easy to make something that works, works robustly and isn't corruptible. (Mind you, I wouldn't base any system on MS Windows, maybe that's the difference.)
It isn't technology's problem if stupid people can't understand it. Especially in cases as this where a shit load of different websites don't end in.com.
I would suggest that you are being too harsh. Slashdot is.org, Wikipedia is.org, and so are many other big websites. Not to mention, everyone outside the US is constantly accessing non.com websites (abc.net.au). Oh and isn't del.icio.us a website?
Don't make the mistake of thinking everyone is stupid. Because most people aren't (though they may be ignorant).
One thing about the DNS system is that it is very hierarchical (if you want everyone using the same root servers at least). And when the organisation that controls it all is a corrupt organisation answerable to the US government (not the most pristine government in the world), that's a problem.
So, my question is, why can't these functions be handed off to an international organisation dedicated to standards, that isn't a part of the US government and has got a history of not being corrupt? Perhaps the ITU (official ITU website)? (WIPO, who administer domain name disputes, is part of the UNO, and no one complains that they are run by China and Iran.)
As for expanding how many TLD's there are, I don't see why there should not be more. It would be nice if the prices were less of course.
And finally, imagine how many poorly written filters are going to break because they think that all TLD's are two or three chars.
Slashdot Mirror
Umm, maybe I misremembered my Intel Wireless chipset number. Either way, I'm not going to upgrade any time soon.
Personally, despite some wonderful new features, I'm going to stick with 8.04 for a bit, at least until they work out the bugs. Of course, I won't ever be prompted to upgrade to 8.10, because 8.04 is a long term support release. Having a look at the release notes, at least one unacceptable (for me) bug is:
Considering the regression from 7.10 with the wireless lights (it used to be a light would flash when transmitting data, now the light never even shows (known bug)), maybe they should have a long look at their wireless system.
Oh, and the CD eject bug...
Yeah, I would like to have the latest GNOME, and OOo 3 without installing backports, but honestly, I don't think I'll bother.
I mean, if I can't use my Gmail address to logon to websites that actually support OpenID, then why would I bother? Not only that though, does it support non Google addresses hosted on Google Apps? (E.g. sexygrrl@example.com)? If not, then even bigger fuck off to it.
Meh, sounds a bit like another "Passport", fuck that, I don't want a big (or little) corporation controlling my ID.
Anyway for the ignorant and lazy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenID
It's called a reference. That's were I got the quote from.
No I'm not a capitalist. I'm a socialist (all anarchists are, "anarcho"-capitalists aren't anarchists).
Man isn't anything much "inherently", but when raised in a "good" environment, tends to be "good". Compare the number of random lynchings in the USA today compared to 100 years ago. The nature of man didn't change, society did.
Society is a strong influence on people, and in an anarchist society, even if they try and take other people's freedoms away*, society would stop them.
* They would be conditioned by society not to, just like people in this society are conditioned not to steal. Except that the conditioning would probably be better because there would be no reason to take away other's freedoms, yet now there is a lot of incentive to steal. Especially when corporations steal from us everyday.
If you are interested in learning more about anarchism, check out my "homepage", where there are lots of anarchists (as well as various Marxists, Leninsts and even a few capitalists). I've got the same username there as well.
Personally, I think it makes a lot more sense then libertarianism, but whatever :).
As to not wanting to explain my philosophy, I've done it many times before, it gets a bit boring after a bit. :)
http://www.mit.edu/hacker/part4.html
People have known since at least 1991 that IPv4 is shit.
I'm an anarchist. I hate capitalism because it removes freedom. It is a hierarchical system, reliant on the state. Capitalism is freedom only for a few, where as I want freedom for everyone.
I don't have a problem with competition as such. And competition isn't the same as capitalism (neither are markets). Capitalism is a complex economic system that is much more then just markets and competition. There as to be the "right" to unlimited ownership of resources, the "right" to own land which isn't being used by the "owner", the "right" to collect rent and interest, be able to make a profit beyond what it cost to make a product (as opposed to "Cost the limit of price"), etc.
As for the other stuff, OK. I'm not really interested in getting into a long debate about browsers and what their makers get from making them. I don't agree with everything you wrote, but whatever.
Please explain? Just calling me a hypocrite automatically gets you +5, but let's see you justify your assertion.
I didn't choose to be born in this system, yet I am forced to live in it. Going off into the woods will not let me escape government and capitalism (governments will tax you if they can, land tax, or whatever, and if you don't own the land, they'll do you for trespass). And even if I could, it isn't plausible for all those who object to the system to up and leave. Leave hospitals, schools etc.
OK, so I can't leave, what can I do? Make do with the position I'm forced into.
So go on justify your claim that I'm a hypocrite for using technology (even when I never said anything about it), even when I hate capitalism. I bet you would saying something about capitalism producing the technology. Does that mean you endorse slavery because the USA was built upon it? Oh, and capitalism isn't the only system to have produced technology... I bet you support feudalism because guns were invented in that time.
I guess I won't try it out than if it's that slow.
Want to know why?
A "western" "developed" (capitalist) country, English speaking (in the main), and a relatively small population. Things can be tested out and tried, and if there are objections, then these can be taken into consideration before (if) the product ever makes it to market.
Potentially pissing off 21 million people is a lot better then potentially pissing off 60 million or 300 million.
Why not New Zealand? Well, maybe less then five million people means that the sample size isn't quite big enough? I don't know.
Competition is great isn't it?
I'm not a capitalist (or even a real supporter of "markets"), but actually when it comes down to it, in situations such as these, competition is good.
And what's amazing, and completely against capitalism, none of these web browser makers are charging any money for their products! All this great software is being developed and given away for free!
That's gotta be evidence that capitalism isn't the be all and end all...
------
On the topic of the actual browser under discussion, how many people are actually going to try it out? I guess because it won't fuck up your current FireFox install a few people will. And considering that I use Epiphany sometimes, maybe I could swap it out for this?
What features is it missing for those who have tried it? What can't you do? Is it better then Epiphany UI-wise?
And they are then free to resell, or even to give away your work. All that hard work and the bastards are just giving it away for free!
Wait, maybe the GPL is about being free. (Free speech, and free beer. CentOS is the perfect example of the GPL in action. Even if RedHat already give away the source to everyone.)
Of course all that information that in that vast government database won't be abused by curious government workers. Whatever gave you the idea that it would?
The fact that it is people (who are always going to be curious, even if not malicious) who have access to these records means that they aren't going to be private. (Not to mention, I've got something to hide ("I like to watch") that I don't want the spooks to know about.)
Refer back to what I said about not using MS Office ;). (I can't just check what you are saying, but if it's correct, thanks.)
OpenOffice.org 3 sounds like it's going to be great. And I'll start using it as soon as it shows up in the Ubuntu repository and I get prompted to update. Until then, I guess I won't. I guess that a lot of other people are having similar thoughts. (Not to mention, consider the number of MS Windows users compared to all non-MS Windows users, of course the majority of downloads are going to be for MS Windows.)
As for price, price is not a factor in me not using MS Windows (I just don't like it compared to GNOME, etc.). However, given the choice between MS Office and OpenOffice.org, it is.
However, it isn't the only thing, I just prefer OOo. I've been using it for a good number of years (and the only thing that used to piss me off was not being able to word count selections, they fixed that), and I've gotten used to the little quirks.
It also does things simply better! Take creating a business card, MS Word doesn't even come with a template for that job! (Not that OOo makes it easy... Why no bottom and right margin setting?)
Zero day exploits for browsers? Sure they exist, but unless you browse the seedy parts of the Internet you aren't going to get hit. Even then, it is still safer to run FireFox then MSIE on XP. (Never used Vista, not terribly interested in it either. However, if MSIE can be run in protected mode, does that mean that other programs can be too? Can you run MSIE not in protected mode? Do non-geeks know the difference?)
Firewalls are to protect you from things coming in. NAT doesn't do that. NAT just hides things, but if you know the port that is associated with the computer behind the NAT, you can still get it. A firewall will stop that attack. Don't relay on NAT to protect you.
Maybe "Lookout!" has improved over the years. But once bitten twice shy as they say. Will it still auto-execute payloads when simply previewing new emails?
When I say ads, I mean an ad for the program. That is, don't click on a shiny add saying "your computer is at risk!". Not, don't download software from websites that have ads.
And finally, that link is good. There is a lot of good advice. Yes users are ignorant and don't want to learn. In that case, you may as well forget about helping them unless they run a live CD and lock down their computer. Yeah right.
Sure, if you want to use Bit Torrent you have to set an exception in your firewall. Except that, I'm guessing that if you're a geek you know how to do that, and most geeks aren't going to be using Bit Torrent. (And even though I'm a geek, I've only ever downloaded one thing using it.)
And using Wireless, the router should have that firewall enabled too. Yup, you have to also forward all requests for the Bit Torrent port to your computer. It isn't that hard for someone who isn't closed minded. (Funny thing, most intelligent people are open minded enough to learn (even for only the few hours required) how to manipulate things like firewalls. You could use the analogy of an apartment building, where you need a key to get past the mail boxes.)
Umm, maybe you could switch to touch screens instead?
Or only use computer voting for those with special needs (people who can't see so well, so the machine can read the candidates name), and use machine readable ballot papers for everyone else.
Etc.
----
In NSW there were 79 candidates for the Senate in the last election. Australia has preferential voting. If you vote "below the line" for the Senate, you have to number every single box (from 1 to 79 in order of your preference). Most people vote "above the line" for a party, and the party distributes the preferences. Lazy bastards.
http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/guide/howtovote.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/guide/snsw.htm
http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/elections/2007/gvt/NSW_2007_gvt.pdf
I'm not sure how big the ballot papers were though. (I'm not from NSW, and I didn't vote anyway, so I didn't see a ballot paper.)
Indeed. When I run MS Windows (not very often if I can help it), I never use anti-virus. Indeed, I consider it a waste of time and money (not to mention system resources).
Of course, you should always make sure you have a working firewall before connecting to the Internet. I find that the built in MS Windows firewall works well enough, so long as it is enabled.
Then, make sure not to run MSIE (at all except on sites you control, and even then...), instead run an alternative (Firefox is popular for some reason, Opera I've heard is good, not that I use it). Another email client (instead of MS Outlook Express or MS Outlook) is also a must if you are using POP or IMAP.
As also mentioned, don't download and run random programs from the web. You have to know how to evaluate the trustworthiness or otherwise of the website. (One thing I love about Ubuntu is that there are so many programs in the repositories, I haven't downloaded a program from a website in over a year. Want a game, fire up Synaptic and browse the hundreds of free games available. Want a MUD client, there are at least five available. Etc.) Knowing how to evaluate the trustworthiness or otherwise of a website is a mix of common sense and understanding of security. It maybe better to ask your local computer geek before downloading random programs.
So, to sum up:
Considering that most people I know don't do much more with their computers then surf the Web, check their email and use some office software, you don't need much more than what I outlined above.
Of course China and India have the largest cell phone populations in the world... They have more then 1 third of the worlds population between them.
(Know why more people are using cell phones and not land lines? It's a shit load easier to throw up towers then to run cables. And a shit load easier to guard against people stealing the metal for raw materials.)
Cell phones are great for poor people, especially farmers. They can ring up potential buyers before travelling a day to market. (They might travel south instead of north.)
I've also read that they are used to send money back home for people (from the country side who live) in cities. They buy cell phone credit, then they ring a fellow in the home village and tell him the voucher number, and he types it into his phone and gets the credit, and then gives that amount of money (minus a small fee) to the family.
Innovation comes, so often, from necessity.
Not to mention, with a scrip program it should be very easy to chuck a function in that displays the source for the Python program currently running.
It doesn't do much, but does allow that little bit of extra openness.
I seriously don't understand why it is so hard to create a software program that can easily add one to a database as required (a vote.) Especially when you have first-past-the-post, you don't even have to worry about preferences (though from a "democracy" perspective first-past-the-post is really bad).
All these problems with Diabold (now known as Premier Electoral Systems) smacks of corruption, rather then incompetence. Because it is so easy to make something that works, works robustly and isn't corruptible. (Mind you, I wouldn't base any system on MS Windows, maybe that's the difference.)
Yeah, and lots of filters break already I guess.
It isn't technology's problem if stupid people can't understand it. Especially in cases as this where a shit load of different websites don't end in .com.
I would suggest that you are being too harsh. Slashdot is .org, Wikipedia is .org, and so are many other big websites. Not to mention, everyone outside the US is constantly accessing non .com websites (abc.net.au). Oh and isn't del.icio.us a website?
Don't make the mistake of thinking everyone is stupid. Because most people aren't (though they may be ignorant).
One thing about the DNS system is that it is very hierarchical (if you want everyone using the same root servers at least). And when the organisation that controls it all is a corrupt organisation answerable to the US government (not the most pristine government in the world), that's a problem.
So, my question is, why can't these functions be handed off to an international organisation dedicated to standards, that isn't a part of the US government and has got a history of not being corrupt? Perhaps the ITU (official ITU website)? (WIPO, who administer domain name disputes, is part of the UNO, and no one complains that they are run by China and Iran.)
As for expanding how many TLD's there are, I don't see why there should not be more. It would be nice if the prices were less of course.
And finally, imagine how many poorly written filters are going to break because they think that all TLD's are two or three chars.