If his argument were for desktop readiness, maybe he would have "canceled out his own argument", but he isn't arguing for that in this case. He's responding to a claim that Linux is slower, buggier, and less clean than Windows.
Furthermore, it's not as if he took the one and only standard distribution and took off all of the extras he could--he rolled his own, probably from scratch. The fact that you can't do that on Windows doesn't make it an unfair comparison, but rather shows one of the advantages inherent to F/OSS: you can redistribute/repackage it any way you like (provided that you follow the terms of the license).
You think Linux support for 64-bit is bad? Windows' 64-bit versions is incomplete at best. It's not ANY GNU/Linux distribution's fault that Adobe doesn't distribute any 64-bit Flash binaries.
I don't switch distros so much as add distros, but I do it pretty often. Usually if there's a new release of a distribution I've enjoyed or heard about, or one I've been excited about but disappointed in, I'll download it and install it to a VM. If I like it, I promote it to my HDD. I don't really feel any distro loyalty and I find it really fun to try weird distributions or new ones. The only thing I don't do often is try Gnome-based distributions.
At the moment, I'm really excited about trying GoboLinux, since it abandons the rather antiquated Linux file system for something that may be better.
When I did my first Gentoo install, I was really intimidated because of all of the scary things I heard about it, but when it comes down to it, it's only a matter of following instructions. Now, I kind of prefer that kind of install, because of how robust it is. For example, you can do a Gentoo install
-from another working Linux install (all you need is chroot)
-from any LiveCD with an internet connection
-telnet/SSH
And you can stop/pick up the install at any time you want to. On my old computer I had a triple-boot between Ubuntu, Windows, and Gentoo, and whenever I was in either Linux distribution, I would regularly chroot into the other and run upates, etc. to keep it up to date. You can actually install Gentoo the exact same way.:-)
It's not the same kind of restriction. The restrictions you just mentioned are restrictions on users. The GPL does the opposite: it restricts distributors to protect the freedom of users. It would be more like "If you want to derive works from copyrighted music, the restrictions come with it."
If you download the KDE4 LiveCD and want to install it on any system or VM, don't bother! The LiveCD installer is broken. To install the test system, you have to download the DVD.
Somewhere down this page it lists it as a "most annoying bug."
Windows never installs adapter specific drivers. It just doesn't. You have to download them yourself (unless this is some Vista feature I've never heard of).
It's clear that you don't really know what you're doing with Linux on hardware that has poor compatibility with it. The "Black Screen of Death" you describe only occurs one one of the many virtual terminals (terminal 7), where X is running. CTRL+ALT+F1 and you now have a console to fiddle with your configuration with, start failsafe X, etc. Granted, this is "complicated," but that doesn't match the situation you described. The "reinstall the OS to fix the problem" is a magical Windows solution to problems, based on the idea that whatever happens inside your computer is deep magic. There are bound to be problems with that.
I have FreeNX server running on my home desktop, which runs Hardy Heron beta. I have a copy of a bunch of tools, including an NX client and PuTTY on my iPod that I use at school when I'm bored to administer the system, check my Gmail, retrieve homework assignments or whatever. (Don't tell the admins! Admins in my school district are cranky and probably don't like me already.)
Sometimes, right before I ride my bike home (I live just a couple of miles from the school) I'll walk into the library and fire up a shell and update and upgrade the system.
When I get back home after the brief bike ride, I'll walk over to my computer and glance at the kicker's tray, where I get that little triangular warning sign indicating I have some, often more than ten, packages available for updating.
It might be like that in the industry, but it definitely doesn't seem that way at school. While at my school only 2 out of the 30 kids in programming are black, I think those two are probably the best and sharpest programmers. Because of this, nobody wonders why they're there: these kids are in programming because they're good at it.
I think the problem may arise when you have a black student who is also a poor programmer, and then people start making generalizations.
It doesn't matter. Other distributions might not have neat little checkboxes and automatic recompilations when their kernel gets upgraded, but the only time you ever need to reinstall the nvidia kernel module is when you get a new kernel.
Chase them down with wifi scanning software and a Palm or smartphone. It's like playing Marco-Polo at work. Actually, it _is_ playing Marco-Polo at work.
As a very "young guy" (16 years old) with a little (a couple of months last summer) experience working in IT, I can say that the first two were disallowed. I didn't play with ssh at all because I didn't have any useful reason to, but I remember wondering why we couldn't use VNC for tech support and also finding out that it's not kosher to install any unauthorized software, including Firefox, on your machine. Of course, the IT staff ignored the bit with Firefox. I think the issue with Firefox is simply that the policy is old and never made exceptions for specific pieces of software, but also that the company never stripped down/restricted Firefox at all (although I'm not sure they would anyway).
The problem with VNC wasn't a technical one at all, but a matter of principle. IT staff aren't supposed to know the passwords of users, and we aren't supposed to just be able to take control of users machines, so RDP was encouraged. The problem is that if you're on the phone with a nontechnical user and you're trying to explain to them how to send out a remote desktop invitation, you might as well just walk over and help them, assuming you have a relatively small campus and a golf cart or bicycle.
As a side note, I worked on PC repair (I spent a lot of time replacing Dell motherboards with bad capacitors) but I also did some help desk type work, and I was lucky enough not to encounter the evil "know-it-all" technical non-IT user or any users who just thought they knew better. The users I helped were generally grateful for help and attentive when I tried to explain problems or give time estimates for how long a fix might take. Since I didn't do any work over the phone and I could actually see what I was working with, I found it to be an overall pleasant experience. Maybe that was just because I was working for a relatively small company, but it seems to me that the reality of warring IT departments and users wanting more freedom with their machines isn't as pervasive as the stereotype.
penis 1676, perhaps from Fr. pénis or directly from L. penis "penis," earlier "tail" (cf. Eng. tail in both senses, the sexual one slang), from PIE *pes-/*pesos- "penis" (cf. Skt. pasas-, Gk. peos, posthe "penis," probably also O.E. fæsl "progeny, offspring," O.N. fösull, Ger. Fasel "young of animals, brood"). The proper plural is penes. The adj. is penial. In psychological writing, penis envy is attested from 1924.
The name of the package to install subversion is subversion. Look through it either in Synaptic, or if you're used to the CLI:
apt-cache search subversion
To show a list of packages with subversion in the name/description. If you want to see the details for the subversion package, it's
apt-cache show subversion
pxc@cooldude:~$ apt-cache show subversion
Package: subversion
Priority: optional
Section: devel
Installed-Size: 3452
Maintainer: Ubuntu Core developers
Original-Maintainer: Peter Samuelson
Architecture: amd64
Version: 1.4.4dfsg1-1ubuntu3
Depends: libsvn1 (= 1.4.4dfsg1-1ubuntu3), libapr1, libc6 (>= 2.6-1), libsvn1 (>= 1.4)
Suggests: subversion-tools, db4.4-util, patch
Filename: pool/main/s/subversion/subversion_1.4.4dfsg1-1ubuntu3_amd64.deb
Size: 252964
MD5sum: ce6362598e34f76d91da61b11ee0c658
SHA1: 31cd84a9df9936b29cf9840177919b1c6da87e0f
SHA256: 63f0cdac47afe41715c541dff596e1055576243939f122025d1927fedab244b1
Description: Advanced version control system
Subversion, also known as svn, is a version control system much like
the Concurrent Versions System (CVS). Version control systems allow
many individuals (who may be distributed geographically) to
collaborate on a set of files (typically source code). Subversion has
all the major features of CVS, plus certain new features that CVS
users often wish they had.
.
This package includes the Subversion client (svn), tools to create a
Subversion repository (svnadmin) and to make a repository available
over a network (svnserve).
.
Homepage: http://subversion.tigris.org/
Bugs: mailto:ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com
Origin: Ubuntu
I hate to say it, but... well, I kinda like saying it, actually. RTFM. "man apt" would have solved your problem, as would have clicking the nice big search button in Synaptic.
Slashdot Mirror
If his argument were for desktop readiness, maybe he would have "canceled out his own argument", but he isn't arguing for that in this case. He's responding to a claim that Linux is slower, buggier, and less clean than Windows.
Furthermore, it's not as if he took the one and only standard distribution and took off all of the extras he could--he rolled his own, probably from scratch. The fact that you can't do that on Windows doesn't make it an unfair comparison, but rather shows one of the advantages inherent to F/OSS: you can redistribute/repackage it any way you like (provided that you follow the terms of the license).
I have something like 15 of them. My dad's company just gets rid of their old ones since the new Dell Optiplexes don't have PS/2 ports.
There's no nostalgia for me, though--I'm 16, only a year older than the keyboard. I just like them because they're good keyboards.
It's a lot easier to sexually abuse a child than it is to rape an adult woman.
RTFM is a legitimate request, as long as the information is actually in the manual.
You think Linux support for 64-bit is bad? Windows' 64-bit versions is incomplete at best. It's not ANY GNU/Linux distribution's fault that Adobe doesn't distribute any 64-bit Flash binaries.
ImageMagick doesn't depend on libgnome. It probably depends on libgnome for Gnome support, which the packagers assume most people want.
Gopher, obviously.
I don't switch distros so much as add distros, but I do it pretty often. Usually if there's a new release of a distribution I've enjoyed or heard about, or one I've been excited about but disappointed in, I'll download it and install it to a VM. If I like it, I promote it to my HDD. I don't really feel any distro loyalty and I find it really fun to try weird distributions or new ones. The only thing I don't do often is try Gnome-based distributions.
At the moment, I'm really excited about trying GoboLinux, since it abandons the rather antiquated Linux file system for something that may be better.
When I did my first Gentoo install, I was really intimidated because of all of the scary things I heard about it, but when it comes down to it, it's only a matter of following instructions. Now, I kind of prefer that kind of install, because of how robust it is. For example, you can do a Gentoo install
:-)
-from another working Linux install (all you need is chroot)
-from any LiveCD with an internet connection
-telnet/SSH
And you can stop/pick up the install at any time you want to. On my old computer I had a triple-boot between Ubuntu, Windows, and Gentoo, and whenever I was in either Linux distribution, I would regularly chroot into the other and run upates, etc. to keep it up to date. You can actually install Gentoo the exact same way.
Me, too. In fact, I hate crap in general.
It's not the same kind of restriction. The restrictions you just mentioned are restrictions on users. The GPL does the opposite: it restricts distributors to protect the freedom of users. It would be more like "If you want to derive works from copyrighted music, the restrictions come with it."
He was referring to the US constitution, suggesting that "we" means all US citizens.
For less secure women than you, there's an easier solution, at least here on /.: Don't explicitly state that you're female in your username.
You don't wanna know what you'd have to do in meatspace...
If you download the KDE4 LiveCD and want to install it on any system or VM, don't bother! The LiveCD installer is broken. To install the test system, you have to download the DVD.
:-\
Somewhere down this page it lists it as a "most annoying bug."
Damn right...
Don't bother. Most VMs don't support 64-bit guests anyway.
Windows never installs adapter specific drivers. It just doesn't. You have to download them yourself (unless this is some Vista feature I've never heard of).
It's clear that you don't really know what you're doing with Linux on hardware that has poor compatibility with it. The "Black Screen of Death" you describe only occurs one one of the many virtual terminals (terminal 7), where X is running. CTRL+ALT+F1 and you now have a console to fiddle with your configuration with, start failsafe X, etc. Granted, this is "complicated," but that doesn't match the situation you described. The "reinstall the OS to fix the problem" is a magical Windows solution to problems, based on the idea that whatever happens inside your computer is deep magic. There are bound to be problems with that.
I definitely agree. I use FreeNX to do more or less the same thing at school, and it's just damn handy.
Funny/related anecdote:
I have FreeNX server running on my home desktop, which runs Hardy Heron beta. I have a copy of a bunch of tools, including an NX client and PuTTY on my iPod that I use at school when I'm bored to administer the system, check my Gmail, retrieve homework assignments or whatever. (Don't tell the admins! Admins in my school district are cranky and probably don't like me already.)
Sometimes, right before I ride my bike home (I live just a couple of miles from the school) I'll walk into the library and fire up a shell and update and upgrade the system.
When I get back home after the brief bike ride, I'll walk over to my computer and glance at the kicker's tray, where I get that little triangular warning sign indicating I have some, often more than ten, packages available for updating.
It might be like that in the industry, but it definitely doesn't seem that way at school. While at my school only 2 out of the 30 kids in programming are black, I think those two are probably the best and sharpest programmers. Because of this, nobody wonders why they're there: these kids are in programming because they're good at it.
I think the problem may arise when you have a black student who is also a poor programmer, and then people start making generalizations.
It doesn't matter. Other distributions might not have neat little checkboxes and automatic recompilations when their kernel gets upgraded, but the only time you ever need to reinstall the nvidia kernel module is when you get a new kernel.
As someone with poor vision who is also partially colorblind...
:-(
That color scheme physically gave me a headache (as does playing Starcraft) and was still hard to read.
Chase them down with wifi scanning software and a Palm or smartphone. It's like playing Marco-Polo at work. Actually, it _is_ playing Marco-Polo at work.
As a very "young guy" (16 years old) with a little (a couple of months last summer) experience working in IT, I can say that the first two were disallowed. I didn't play with ssh at all because I didn't have any useful reason to, but I remember wondering why we couldn't use VNC for tech support and also finding out that it's not kosher to install any unauthorized software, including Firefox, on your machine. Of course, the IT staff ignored the bit with Firefox. I think the issue with Firefox is simply that the policy is old and never made exceptions for specific pieces of software, but also that the company never stripped down/restricted Firefox at all (although I'm not sure they would anyway).
The problem with VNC wasn't a technical one at all, but a matter of principle. IT staff aren't supposed to know the passwords of users, and we aren't supposed to just be able to take control of users machines, so RDP was encouraged. The problem is that if you're on the phone with a nontechnical user and you're trying to explain to them how to send out a remote desktop invitation, you might as well just walk over and help them, assuming you have a relatively small campus and a golf cart or bicycle.
As a side note, I worked on PC repair (I spent a lot of time replacing Dell motherboards with bad capacitors) but I also did some help desk type work, and I was lucky enough not to encounter the evil "know-it-all" technical non-IT user or any users who just thought they knew better. The users I helped were generally grateful for help and attentive when I tried to explain problems or give time estimates for how long a fix might take. Since I didn't do any work over the phone and I could actually see what I was working with, I found it to be an overall pleasant experience. Maybe that was just because I was working for a relatively small company, but it seems to me that the reality of warring IT departments and users wanting more freedom with their machines isn't as pervasive as the stereotype.