"Closed programs, open formats is, to my mind, a reasonable compromise for a commercial organisation."
I disagree, this creates a situation where the controlling company is in a position to drive the market by making the "open format" a moving target, ie adding bells and whistles or undocumented features. For example, consider Microsoft and the Windows APIs; there is a history that should make it clear to all.
Calling a format controlled soley by one company "open" is a bit of a strech.
Adobe is in the driver's seat, if they decide to go to the Bad Land (say, I dunno, document tracking without permission?) you have no say but to go along for the ride.
Javascript in PDF? Now that's a security hole to just waiting to happen. You can trust Adobe with your machine, I choose not to thanks.
When I visit a website, I understand I'm being tracked. Granted, I think sites should explicitly state what kind of tracking they are doing, but as a visitor I certainly have no expectation of privacy (unless I choose to anonymize of course).
If I get some damn PDF in email, I certainly don't expect my PDF reader to report to someone else without my permission. Big difference.
PDF open? Uh, in the sense that the format can be seen in spec I suppose. However, Adobe is the sole controller of the format and can (and has) change it on a whim (javascript in a PDF? WTF?).
I guess describing the format is open is better than calling it a standard, but to me open means a little more than "I can find out how it works".
Whatever dude. I guess all those folks rolling out Linux left and right are just a bunch of morons, clearly running a closed hardware platform is the way to go. I mean, I hate being able to buy whatever hardware I want, even from Walmart and have it work in my machine. I'd much rather have a vendor tell me what to buy and when. Then I can stop thinking and follow the rest of the sheep to the Altar of Shiny Things.
Now, give Steve back his Unreality Shield, you've had it long enough.
You're right, there is an additional chilling influence at work. However, the point remains: ultimately whether people will buy the thing or not is what determines the features. As long as the DVD industry is making enough money (getting enough people to buy, selling enough DVD licenses), they will continue with their current stance on features.
Now, I agree, I think a lot of what the DVD folks are pushing is contrary to what I would like. But unfortunately the negatives don't outweigh the positives at the moment.
"Wrong. The market isn't the only factor. Just look at the iTunes Music Store. If it was just about what the market wants, there wouldn't be DRM."
No, you're wrong. The market supports iTunes. Now granted you and I would agree that DRM is bad and unwanted; however, obvisously we are the minority and the market just doesn't care. It's not about what the market WANTS, it's about what the market will bear. In the iTunes case, there is more than enough market willing to put up with the stupid DRM.
"Wrong again, just look at the broadcast flag."
I mispoke, that should have read 'No one HERE, ARGUING,IN THIS DISCUSSION is advocating....'. I don't think any of the Media Giants and others pushing this crap (broadcast flag and DRM) are participating in this discussion. But I could be wrong.
Don't be an ass. The market determines the features, if someone wants to try to sell a DVD player without FF, they are welcome to do so. Though I doubt it would sell very well without some other really really good feature.
No one is advocating manufacturers be forced (as in, by law) to do anything.
Assuming I had a PB that I cared about instead of a hand-me-down, I would fork over some bucks for a replacement trackpad with several buttons. However, the price would have to be inline a better mouse in the first place.
One would assume such a thing would render the warranty dead and gone, though. Lots of folks seem to think the warranty is a big deal; myself, if I can buy/replace the part, warranty doesn't mean all that much.
"And open and good is what Macs are again, finally."
Uh, the author really needs to rethink this.
Apple (Macs) are anything but open. Yeah, go ahead, start spouting off about Darwin and such. And when you get done, try to remember that little Aqua thingy that any Mac app needs to use to "look cool". Try to remember that everything in that laptop (it's a laptop, *Book is a trademark. Kleenex, tissue, same diff) is tied to Apple in one form or another. Not to mention you can't buy the things from anyone other than Apple.
I'm not saying these are bad things, one could say that this one vendor approach is a strength, allowing all Apple hardware (within reason) to present one set of interfaces for software to use. I could see that. But open? No.
I run Afterstep (not even 2.x) and am quite happy with the environment. There are a few little quirks, but no where near what one seems on the Doze side.
Perhaps you should try Mac OSX and feel it's constraints before putting down Linux.
Another major downside is the one-button trackpad.
Yes, I could plug in a new mouse, but can I run that on my lap?
Yes, I can (and have) defined the buttons as keys under Linux. OS X has all the ctrl-option-command variations. All this sucks when compared against the simplicity of a three button mouse (no wheel here, thanks!).
I run Linux on PPC right now, I speak from experience.
It's nice having all the hardware supported, on the Linux side. Suspend works, wireless works, volume control works, everything. On the x86 side, you have to be really really careful which laptop you get to support those same features (an aside, the "latest and greatest" *Books can have the same problem, as development has not caught up yet).
Now, the downside. Anything that is distributed binary only is a pain on the PPC side. For example, there is not currently a working Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Mozilla 1.7.x on PPC. Not a big deal you'd think, but I like a little online poker now and again and the only support on the Linux side is via Java clients.
So, I am at the moment running mostly in OS X; for the most part it is ok. But then, I'm not doing much more than browsing and shelling out to other machines. I reboot Linux when I need it. My desktop is another story, all Linux, all the time!!
By the blasted 7, as cool as the 3D Catan looks (suddenly I see a use for my modeling talents), considering the base Catan set is still $40-$50, how much do you suppose that thing is going to retail for?
Slashdot Mirror
2nd this.
You should be talking to your tool vendor, not looking at changing your OS choice.
"what has helped me most in installing Gentoo is having 2 PCs and a kvm switch."
Having network and ssh, up and running on your install system works even better.
Web browser + xterm + Gentoo Documentation = Good Installation Experience
You make a mistake in assuming ALL email clients process HTML. Mine doesn't and I like it that way for just the reason you mention!
"Closed programs, open formats is, to my mind, a reasonable compromise for a commercial organisation."
I disagree, this creates a situation where the controlling company is in a position to drive the market by making the "open format" a moving target, ie adding bells and whistles or undocumented features. For example, consider Microsoft and the Windows APIs; there is a history that should make it clear to all.
Calling a format controlled soley by one company "open" is a bit of a strech.
Adobe is in the driver's seat, if they decide to go to the Bad Land (say, I dunno, document tracking without permission?) you have no say but to go along for the ride.
Javascript in PDF? Now that's a security hole to just waiting to happen. You can trust Adobe with your machine, I choose not to thanks.
When I visit a website, I understand I'm being tracked. Granted, I think sites should explicitly state what kind of tracking they are doing, but as a visitor I certainly have no expectation of privacy (unless I choose to anonymize of course).
If I get some damn PDF in email, I certainly don't expect my PDF reader to report to someone else without my permission. Big difference.
PDF open? Uh, in the sense that the format can be seen in spec I suppose. However, Adobe is the sole controller of the format and can (and has) change it on a whim (javascript in a PDF? WTF?).
I guess describing the format is open is better than calling it a standard, but to me open means a little more than "I can find out how it works".
Tom Yager has been an Apple fanboy for years.
Wait, did he just say OSX and Java?
*sigh*
Whatever dude. I guess all those folks rolling out Linux left and right are just a bunch of morons, clearly running a closed hardware platform is the way to go. I mean, I hate being able to buy whatever hardware I want, even from Walmart and have it work in my machine. I'd much rather have a vendor tell me what to buy and when. Then I can stop thinking and follow the rest of the sheep to the Altar of Shiny Things.
Now, give Steve back his Unreality Shield, you've had it long enough.
As I stated earlier in this thread, dnscache can be poisoned if set in forward only mode and directed to a poisoned server.
In other words, it will let you shoot yourself in the foot, should you choose to do so.
NOTE:
This is only true as long is dnscache is either not setup in FORWARD_ONLY mode or is forwarding to servers that are safe from poisoning as well.
dnscache will accept whatever answers the forwarder gives out, IF and ONLY IF that is what you tell it to do.
Myself, I always setup dnscache to hit from the root up, I don't trust Joe ISP.
I had one disc that if one fast forwarded, Play no longer worked. That was really annoying.
I don't know if that was just a particular disc/player combo or just bad karma for the day, never seen another one do that.
You're right, there is an additional chilling influence at work. However, the point remains: ultimately whether people will buy the thing or not is what determines the features. As long as the DVD industry is making enough money (getting enough people to buy, selling enough DVD licenses), they will continue with their current stance on features.
Now, I agree, I think a lot of what the DVD folks are pushing is contrary to what I would like. But unfortunately the negatives don't outweigh the positives at the moment.
"Wrong. The market isn't the only factor. Just look at the iTunes Music Store. If it was just about what the market wants, there wouldn't be DRM."
No, you're wrong. The market supports iTunes. Now granted you and I would agree that DRM is bad and unwanted; however, obvisously we are the minority and the market just doesn't care. It's not about what the market WANTS, it's about what the market will bear. In the iTunes case, there is more than enough market willing to put up with the stupid DRM.
"Wrong again, just look at the broadcast flag."
I mispoke, that should have read 'No one HERE, ARGUING,IN THIS DISCUSSION is advocating....'. I don't think any of the Media Giants and others pushing this crap (broadcast flag and DRM) are participating in this discussion. But I could be wrong.
Don't be an ass. The market determines the features, if someone wants to try to sell a DVD player without FF, they are welcome to do so. Though I doubt it would sell very well without some other really really good feature.
No one is advocating manufacturers be forced (as in, by law) to do anything.
I would really like to be charge for not watching the FBI notice, maybe then we could make it go away for good.
It is nice to hear about good customer service, not matter what the company may be.
I'm hoping more companies will figure out good customer service is the key to success in the long run.
Assuming I had a PB that I cared about instead of a hand-me-down, I would fork over some bucks for a replacement trackpad with several buttons. However, the price would have to be inline a better mouse in the first place.
One would assume such a thing would render the warranty dead and gone, though. Lots of folks seem to think the warranty is a big deal; myself, if I can buy/replace the part, warranty doesn't mean all that much.
"And open and good is what Macs are again, finally."
Uh, the author really needs to rethink this.
Apple (Macs) are anything but open. Yeah, go ahead, start spouting off about Darwin and such. And when you get done, try to remember that little Aqua thingy that any Mac app needs to use to "look cool". Try to remember that everything in that laptop (it's a laptop, *Book is a trademark. Kleenex, tissue, same diff) is tied to Apple in one form or another. Not to mention you can't buy the things from anyone other than Apple.
I'm not saying these are bad things, one could say that this one vendor approach is a strength, allowing all Apple hardware (within reason) to present one set of interfaces for software to use. I could see that. But open? No.
Simple solution: get rid of Gnome/KDE.
I run Afterstep (not even 2.x) and am quite happy with the environment. There are a few little quirks, but no where near what one seems on the Doze side.
Perhaps you should try Mac OSX and feel it's constraints before putting down Linux.
Oh, I forgot.
Another major downside is the one-button trackpad.
Yes, I could plug in a new mouse, but can I run that on my lap?
Yes, I can (and have) defined the buttons as keys under Linux. OS X has all the ctrl-option-command variations. All this sucks when compared against the simplicity of a three button mouse (no wheel here, thanks!).
I run Linux on PPC right now, I speak from experience.
It's nice having all the hardware supported, on the Linux side. Suspend works, wireless works, volume control works, everything. On the x86 side, you have to be really really careful which laptop you get to support those same features (an aside, the "latest and greatest" *Books can have the same problem, as development has not caught up yet).
Now, the downside. Anything that is distributed binary only is a pain on the PPC side. For example, there is not currently a working Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Mozilla 1.7.x on PPC. Not a big deal you'd think, but I like a little online poker now and again and the only support on the Linux side is via Java clients.
So, I am at the moment running mostly in OS X; for the most part it is ok. But then, I'm not doing much more than browsing and shelling out to other machines. I reboot Linux when I need it. My desktop is another story, all Linux, all the time!!
Debian stable is "meant" to be just that: stable.
That attributte happens to be the prime quality one looks for in a server OS.
I don't think stable's use as a server OS is what drives the development schedule.
Gentoo support for PPC is very good.
:)
I run it on a couple of boxes, "It just works".
By the blasted 7, as cool as the 3D Catan looks (suddenly I see a use for my modeling talents), considering the base Catan set is still $40-$50, how much do you suppose that thing is going to retail for?
Scary, and yet oh so tempting!
Fedora up to this point is NOT community developed.
Calling it a public beta would be more on target.
Now, Redhat has said from the start they would get the community involved, but have yet to deliver. So far all development is Redhat driven.