"1 MW" has always meant 1,000,000 watts. "9.6 kbps" has always meant 9,600 bits per second. A "500 GB" hard drive still means 500,000,000,000 bytes.
There are relatively few places where this is screwed up, most of which fall into these categories:
RAM or things derived from RAM (e.g. page sizes) where the physical layout imply powers of 2
Microsoft
The latter doesn't even get it consistent. "1.44 MB" floppies are actually 1440 * 1024 bytes.
Another case of ivory tower types not being sophisticated enough to grok current industry usage, methinks...
"Current industry usage" is to be ambiguous; 17 MB means "somewhere between 16 and 18 megabytes". The people you call "ivory tower types", including the IEC, are trying to use more precise language.
And don't even get me started on folks who assume a byte is always eight (b) bits. There's a reason folks in the Real World use the term "octet", people.
The term "octet" does exactly the same thing that the binary prefixes do: They indicate more precisely what is being talked about.
As someone else in this thread said, "just because some people made the mistake, decades ago, of choosing to equal kilo to 1024 doesn't mean they were right."
You don't have a clue, do you? In a lot of countries, these kids' parents have cellular phones. They'll be able to find something to clean electrical contacts with.
However, would such a scheme be compatible with free software? Under the GPL, would a Linux distributor be permitted to send out encrypted binary patches and only reveal the decryption key later?
Why not? The distribution isn't complete until the key is published. I don't think a ciphertext would count as a creative work on its own. It certainly doesn't violate the spirit of the GPL.
Of course, there might be issues with distributing only binaries (encrypted or not) without complete corresponding source code (or the requisite written offer), but that's a different question.
If you distributed binaries in cleartext, but encrypted the corresponding source code, then you might have a problem.
Just remember... there was a time, when ATi didn't provide open drivers, nor specifications...
I always had the feeling, they open their specs, because they can't hold up with nvidia and closed source driver development...
Oh, quit spouting off about things you know nothing about. ATi released their interface specifications almost immediately after they were acquired by AMD.
How is the parent a troll? Sigh. The moderators must be smoking up again.
Linux would never have become what it is today if it hadn't been for widespread documentation of hardware-software interfaces. "The next Linux" will need the same. It boggles the mind how many Linux users refuse to understand that.
Re:I was treated like a dog-first IT job(literally
on
Dealing With an IT Bully
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Since the dot-com bust, $15/hr is probably what you were worth as an IT guy with only "a few classes" worth of experience. There are a lot of geeks who have been working with computers since they were kids; If you're not one of them, it takes several years before you can really compete with them.
I also think the method you described would be perfectly appropriate for training a dog (you'd want to avoid the eyes, though).
That said, I know several people who work for close to minimum wage, and they wouldn't tolerate that crap from their boss either. Definitely worth quitting for, IMHO.
If I talked to our support team the day that Dirk is alleged to have done, I would be fired and would completely deserve it.
From the article, I don't get the impression that Dirk was actually required to answer the call. One of the developers who work for him did that.
I think you need to read between the lines to see what really happened here. The author sounds like a crybaby, and doesn't seem to be reporting the whole story.
It definitely defies the EULA for Mac OS X, which specifies that the purchaser of a legal copy of Leopard is entitled to install the operating system on an Apple-branded computer.
And the first-sale doctrine states that the purchaser of a legal copy of Leopard is entitled to install it wherever he wants, EULA notwithstanding.
Despite the bevy of rational explanations, with official bodies denying, often with proof, that no 'backroom dealing' occurred, it's still not enough for people to realise that the ISO process may actually be working fine
Have you actually looked at the OOXML spec? It doesn't matter if "backroom dealing" occurred. If that trainwreck is approved as an ISO standard, then the ISO process is broken. Full stop.
(That last pair of points are important. Monkeys do not see all colours with equal clarity. Neither do humans, which is why monitors actually have more real-estate set aside for blue than for anything else.
Honestly, I don't care whether they're lying or whether they're just incapable of delivering on their promises. Either way, there's no reason to suddenly trust that Microsoft really means it this time.
Slashdot Mirror
C99 fixed that: #include <stdint.h>, then use either uint32_t or int32_t.
The current HTML specs are trainwrecks for the same reason. That's what HTML 5 is attempting to fix.
Incidentally, the W3C specs are actually called "Recommendations". There's probably a reason for that.
"1 MW" has always meant 1,000,000 watts. "9.6 kbps" has always meant 9,600 bits per second. A "500 GB" hard drive still means 500,000,000,000 bytes.
There are relatively few places where this is screwed up, most of which fall into these categories:
The latter doesn't even get it consistent. "1.44 MB" floppies are actually 1440 * 1024 bytes.
Another case of ivory tower types not being sophisticated enough to grok current industry usage, methinks..."Current industry usage" is to be ambiguous; 17 MB means "somewhere between 16 and 18 megabytes". The people you call "ivory tower types", including the IEC, are trying to use more precise language.
And don't even get me started on folks who assume a byte is always eight (b) bits. There's a reason folks in the Real World use the term "octet", people.The term "octet" does exactly the same thing that the binary prefixes do: They indicate more precisely what is being talked about.
As someone else in this thread said, "just because some people made the mistake, decades ago, of choosing to equal kilo to 1024 doesn't mean they were right."
So you think widely-adopted standards are generally just pulled out of someone's backside?
I suggest you read BCP 9.
That explains why OSI is such a trainwreck compared to IP.
Not a bottom upSo why was ODF approved, then? Or ISO C?
adopt the lowest common denominator of whats already out there"Lowest common denominator" is not equivalent to bottom-up design.
You don't have a clue, do you? In a lot of countries, these kids' parents have cellular phones. They'll be able to find something to clean electrical contacts with.
IIRC, these laptops aren't for third-world children. They're for children in developing countries.
Why not? The distribution isn't complete until the key is published. I don't think a ciphertext would count as a creative work on its own. It certainly doesn't violate the spirit of the GPL.
Of course, there might be issues with distributing only binaries (encrypted or not) without complete corresponding source code (or the requisite written offer), but that's a different question.
If you distributed binaries in cleartext, but encrypted the corresponding source code, then you might have a problem.
Unlikely.
System report: Everything is fine. Nothing is ruined.
I always had the feeling, they open their specs, because they can't hold up with nvidia and closed source driver development...
Oh, quit spouting off about things you know nothing about. ATi released their interface specifications almost immediately after they were acquired by AMD.
Coincidence? I think not.
How is the parent a troll? Sigh. The moderators must be smoking up again.
Linux would never have become what it is today if it hadn't been for widespread documentation of hardware-software interfaces. "The next Linux" will need the same. It boggles the mind how many Linux users refuse to understand that.
Since the dot-com bust, $15/hr is probably what you were worth as an IT guy with only "a few classes" worth of experience. There are a lot of geeks who have been working with computers since they were kids; If you're not one of them, it takes several years before you can really compete with them.
I also think the method you described would be perfectly appropriate for training a dog (you'd want to avoid the eyes, though).
That said, I know several people who work for close to minimum wage, and they wouldn't tolerate that crap from their boss either. Definitely worth quitting for, IMHO.
From the article, I don't get the impression that Dirk was actually required to answer the call. One of the developers who work for him did that.
I think you need to read between the lines to see what really happened here. The author sounds like a crybaby, and doesn't seem to be reporting the whole story.
Not if you make the idiot throw a hissy fit, and subsequently quit.
And the first-sale doctrine states that the purchaser of a legal copy of Leopard is entitled to install it wherever he wants, EULA notwithstanding.
"Doing everything right the first time" in this context means adopting ODF, not pushing forward your own clusterfuck of a "standard".
THANK YOU. You just made my day.
The Open Document Format (ODF) started as the OpenOffice format (though Sun does not control it).
The Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) format is the MS-led one.
Have you actually looked at the OOXML spec? It doesn't matter if "backroom dealing" occurred. If that trainwreck is approved as an ISO standard, then the ISO process is broken. Full stop.
How to kill yourself like a man
Green.
But it's cheaper, so you can have more of them and cover more area than you could afford to with cameras. I think that was the point.
Exactly.
Microsoft... blowing hot air?
Nothing new.
Honestly, I don't care whether they're lying or whether they're just incapable of delivering on their promises. Either way, there's no reason to suddenly trust that Microsoft really means it this time.