Over the years, I've rarely seen them suggest that there's anything out there other than Microsoft OS's. They've been ignoring Free software for years, yet what could be more in the interest of 'consumers'?
And a lot of their conclusions and recommendations are, in my opinion, little more than their staff members' preferences.
True. But my gripe isn't so much with glibc itself, but with RPM dependencies on it. Unless a new version of the Gimp uses those new features, it shouldn't have a dependency on them. I've switched to using Gentoo at home, and no longer seem to have those sorts of problems.
What scares me is the thought of a jury made up of the usual non-techie types who don't even have a clue of what an operating system is. I wouldn't be surprised if SCO's lawyers filter out any potential jurors who've used Linux or done any professional programming.
I've got a Linux and a Windows machine and home, and what you say is true. Getting, say, my USB scanner working on Linux took a lot more work.
OTOH, if I try to do anything else on Windows while it's scanning, the scan fails, and will continue to fail until I reboot. And occasionally, when I'm not using the scanner at all, it just starts scanning on its own! Plus, the easy-to-install visually-beautiful software that came on the Windows CD apparently has no way to save my preferred settings. So every damn time I start it up to make a simple copy of something, I have to go through the options screens to set it to black-and-white and to turn on automatic-contrast.
Linux's scanner program, "xsane", isn't nearly as pretty, but at least it's reliable and does everything I want.
While glibc itself doesn't bother me, what really annoys me is the constant updates to it and how it affects RPM-base distributions. Typical example:
About 4 months after I bought SuSE 7.0, I wanted to update the Gimp. But the new RPM required a new glibc package. And installing that meant updating everything.
Another example:
Where I work, almost all the developers use Linux. But some have slightly newer versions of RedHat, and that often means we can't share binaries because of glibc mismatches.
As others have pointed out, the code is essentially dead. It's not yours; it has no value; but if you try to use it or buy it, you'll possibly be in big legal trouble. Anyone who's been in the business more than a few years has seen this many times (often when the company is still in business, but simply cancelled the product).
So... treat it as practice. I'd imagine the products weren't perfect, and now you know what could be done better. Re-implement the code, either keeping it proprietary as your own, or making it open-source if you'd like to get free help.
Here's a bit of advice (that I'm probably too cautious to take myself): If you really think your employer is screwing up, then short their stock. Just be aware that lots of companies do well in spite of less-than-stellar decisions.
Anyone care to compare this with the Shuttle SN41G2? I've been considering one of these, although the price ($329 at Fry's) seems a little high. Still, the Shuttle comes with Nvidia video with SVGA TV-out, which is fairly appealing. The one thing I've been wondering is if it's easy/possible to use remotes with Linux.
When I started at my current job late last year, the sysadmin asked me what I wanted for a desktop, with the choices being:
1. RH Linux.
2. RH Linux + Win2k, dual-boot.
3. RH Linux + VMware/Win2k
4. Win2k
5. A Sparc/Solaris box Everyone has what he/she wants here, with most desktops being Linux.
Yes, I, too, can pick up a game and install it easily on my Windows box. Then I can watch the box crash every 15 minutes of play. Driver problems? Who knows? Where would I look?
If Linux gives me trouble, there's always some information in a message file somewhere.
You say that XP is great, and maybe it is. But I heard the same thing about 3.1, 3.11, WFWG, 95, and 98SE (which is what I have). Trusting Microsoft now, for me, is like trusting Ford in the mid-70's when they advertised that "Quality is Job 1". It took a quarter-century for Ford to change their culture and really improve, and I'd expect that Microsoft would need about the same amount of time.
This is similar to some advice I heard for writers:
When you're being really productive towards the end of the day, stop before you're finished. Then you'll have something easy to start with at the beginning of the next day.
I'd say that sex is good for that too, but I wouldn't expect my employer to provide it. Besides, it probably would offend many people's morals, or simply wouldn't be to their tastes. The same could be said for religious ceremonies.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, and shall not distribute the entire source of his additions as well as these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
It does even out, eventually. As jobs are shipped overseas, the dollar will drop in value relative to the rupee (sp?) until things even out. I'm old enough to remember the car industry in the 70's, when it looked like everything was going to be made in Japan.
At least, this is my hope. In the meantime, it's not so great being in the tech industry here (although I was lucky enough to find a really nice job a few months ago).
At home, I've one Linux box and one Windows box. Here are my experiences with a USB scanner:
Windows: NICE install. Stick in CD, wait a little while, and we're ready to go with a beautiful GUI. BUT, after a few days, I start noticing the problems. There seems to be no way to save my preferred settings; so everytime I start the scanning program, I have to reset the options by hand. And every now and then when I'm doing something completely unrelated, the scanner starts scanning on its own! In addition, if I try to do anything else while it's scanning, (good old Windows multitasking), the scan fails, and I usually have to reboot.
Linux: Not so easy. I had to learn about USB, recompile my kernel, install and setup the 'hotplug' scripts, and do a fair amount of reading. But now it works great. Of course, SANE remembers my settings, plus it provides a lot more features than the (admittedly prettier) software that ran on Windows. One time when a scan seemed to hang, I just killed xsane and restarted it.
So... if I were a business, I'd probably have to hire someone to set up the scanner in Linux. Assuming that person has done it before, it's probably about an hour's work. With Windows, I could do it myself, but would then spend the rest of the scanner's life tearing out what little hair I have left.
It's funny to think that people aren't as interested in stock-options after the bust. NOW is the time to get options, when prices are low, especially since there's no risk to the employee. It's also likely the reason that companies are less willing to give them out, as they're counting on their shares rising in the coming years.
That said, I generally think of stock options as if they're a gift of lottery tickets. They're free; they could pay off; but unless you're in a very small company (or very high up in a larger one), there's little you'll be able to do to affect their value.
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Over the years, I've rarely seen them suggest that there's anything out there other than Microsoft OS's. They've been ignoring Free software for years, yet what could be more in the interest of 'consumers'?
And a lot of their conclusions and recommendations are, in my opinion, little more than their staff members' preferences.
True. But my gripe isn't so much with glibc itself, but with RPM dependencies on it. Unless a new version of the Gimp uses those new features, it shouldn't have a dependency on them. I've switched to using Gentoo at home, and no longer seem to have those sorts of problems.
What scares me is the thought of a jury made up of the usual non-techie types who don't even have a clue of what an operating system is. I wouldn't be surprised if SCO's lawyers filter out any potential jurors who've used Linux or done any professional programming.
I've got a Linux and a Windows machine and home, and what you say is true. Getting, say, my USB scanner working on Linux took a lot more work.
OTOH, if I try to do anything else on Windows while it's scanning, the scan fails, and will continue to fail until I reboot. And occasionally, when I'm not using the scanner at all, it just starts scanning on its own! Plus, the easy-to-install visually-beautiful software that came on the Windows CD apparently has no way to save my preferred settings. So every damn time I start it up to make a simple copy of something, I have to go through the options screens to set it to black-and-white and to turn on automatic-contrast.
Linux's scanner program, "xsane", isn't nearly as pretty, but at least it's reliable and does everything I want.
While glibc itself doesn't bother me, what really annoys me is the constant updates to it and how it affects RPM-base distributions. Typical example:
About 4 months after I bought SuSE 7.0, I wanted to update the Gimp. But the new RPM required a new glibc package. And installing that meant updating everything.
Another example:
Where I work, almost all the developers use Linux. But some have slightly newer versions of RedHat, and that often means we can't share binaries because of glibc mismatches.
Don't forget 59 cents if you've bought a stuffed penguin.
As others have pointed out, the code is essentially dead. It's not yours; it has no value; but if you try to use it or buy it, you'll possibly be in big legal trouble. Anyone who's been in the business more than a few years has seen this many times (often when the company is still in business, but simply cancelled the product).
So... treat it as practice. I'd imagine the products weren't perfect, and now you know what could be done better. Re-implement the code, either keeping it proprietary as your own, or making it open-source if you'd like to get free help.
Here's a bit of advice (that I'm probably too cautious to take myself): If you really think your employer is screwing up, then short their stock. Just be aware that lots of companies do well in spite of less-than-stellar decisions.
Yes, I remember copying onto casette tapes. A decent tape cost at least a couple dollars (worth maybe $5 in today's dollars), and it took an hour.
Copying a CD takes a few minutes and costs 25 cents.
Of course, if it's easy and cheap for an individual to copy a CD, imagine how inexpensive it is for a factory.
Anyone care to compare this with the Shuttle SN41G2? I've been considering one of these, although the price ($329 at Fry's) seems a little high. Still, the Shuttle comes with Nvidia video with SVGA TV-out, which is fairly appealing. The one thing I've been wondering is if it's easy/possible to use remotes with Linux.
No kidding! When I first read the headline, I couldn't believe that something as dated and ugly as Xforms was being made a standard.
When I started at my current job late last year, the sysadmin asked me what I wanted for a desktop, with the choices being:
1. RH Linux.
2. RH Linux + Win2k, dual-boot.
3. RH Linux + VMware/Win2k
4. Win2k
5. A Sparc/Solaris box
Everyone has what he/she wants here, with most desktops being Linux.
Yes, I, too, can pick up a game and install it easily on my Windows box. Then I can watch the box crash every 15 minutes of play. Driver problems? Who knows? Where would I look?
If Linux gives me trouble, there's always some information in a message file somewhere.
You say that XP is great, and maybe it is. But I heard the same thing about 3.1, 3.11, WFWG, 95, and 98SE (which is what I have). Trusting Microsoft now, for me, is like trusting Ford in the mid-70's when they advertised that "Quality is Job 1". It took a quarter-century for Ford to change their culture and really improve, and I'd expect that Microsoft would need about the same amount of time.
This is similar to some advice I heard for writers:
When you're being really productive towards the end of the day, stop before you're finished. Then you'll have something easy to start with at the beginning of the next day.
There's the fact that you can buy a DVD of the movie for around $15.
I'd say that sex is good for that too, but I wouldn't expect my employer to provide it. Besides, it probably would offend many people's morals, or simply wouldn't be to their tastes. The same could be said for religious ceremonies.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, and shall not distribute the entire source of his additions as well as these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
It does even out, eventually. As jobs are shipped overseas, the dollar will drop in value relative to the rupee (sp?) until things even out. I'm old enough to remember the car industry in the 70's, when it looked like everything was going to be made in Japan.
At least, this is my hope. In the meantime, it's not so great being in the tech industry here (although I was lucky enough to find a really nice job a few months ago).
...and I hope you:
1. Smiled the whole time.
2. Suggested a 'nice frosty shake' with their meal.
3. Told here to 'please come again'.
...the value of the stock we own in our 401K's would be going up with all this 'cost saving'.
Don't worry. The programmers with years of experience are considered too old to hire.
I guess your corner gas station has the right to refuse to sell to you because you're not driving a Ford.
In theory, they do. But if all the stations in town only will deal with Ford owners, there might be something illegal going on.
At home, I've one Linux box and one Windows box. Here are my experiences with a USB scanner:
Windows: NICE install. Stick in CD, wait a little while, and we're ready to go with a beautiful GUI. BUT, after a few days, I start noticing the problems. There seems to be no way to save my preferred settings; so everytime I start the scanning program, I have to reset the options by hand. And every now and then when I'm doing something completely unrelated, the scanner starts scanning on its own! In addition, if I try to do anything else while it's scanning, (good old Windows multitasking), the scan fails, and I usually have to reboot.
Linux: Not so easy. I had to learn about USB, recompile my kernel, install and setup the 'hotplug' scripts, and do a fair amount of reading. But now it works great. Of course, SANE remembers my settings, plus it provides a lot more features than the (admittedly prettier) software that ran on Windows. One time when a scan seemed to hang, I just killed xsane and restarted it.
So... if I were a business, I'd probably have to hire someone to set up the scanner in Linux. Assuming that person has done it before, it's probably about an hour's work. With Windows, I could do it myself, but would then spend the rest of the scanner's life tearing out what little hair I have left.
It's funny to think that people aren't as interested in stock-options after the bust. NOW is the time to get options, when prices are low, especially since there's no risk to the employee. It's also likely the reason that companies are less willing to give them out, as they're counting on their shares rising in the coming years.
That said, I generally think of stock options as if they're a gift of lottery tickets. They're free; they could pay off; but unless you're in a very small company (or very high up in a larger one), there's little you'll be able to do to affect their value.
Really? I was thinking of upgrading my K6/500, which loads it in about 25 seconds, but maybe those new-fangled CPU's aren't really faster after all.