... they could just write 100 random bytes to any non-Windows partition every so often. Eventually, users would decide that Linux was too unstable to have around.
Actually, I find that ignoring flamers and other pests is the best policy. And this is much easier to do in an online forum than in the real world. In fact, I often find the responses to flamers more irritating than the flames themselves, as they tend to distract the more responsible users from the forum's topic.
Besides, adolescents who are trying to get attention will usually go away if they're ignored.
Partly, it's because Unix users have become sensitive to the notion (attributed, I think to N. Petreley), that "It hasn't been invented until Microsoft does it." So, when Windows95 finally arrived with its half-decent multi-tasking, MS and its fans in the press raved about the great advance.
Lately, I've been hearing Windows developers talk about how cool it is to use Cygwin on NT. Yet I recall using the Gnu EMX tools under OS/2 over 5 years ago.
In addition, it is especially cool having this feature in a free and open environment.
Yes, it's true: Windows users want ports of the free apps. developed under Linux, and I've seen this with my own project. The problem is getting people to do the ports. The developer who joined my project originally to do the Win32 port switched over to Linux soon after he tried it.
So perhaps the killer app. is Gnu? That should make RMS happy.
Speaking of NIC's: When my NIC stopped working in Windows, I went to "System Properties", and it told me that it was working fine. After wasting about 4 hours fiddling with things (with every minor change requiring a reboot), I finally found that switching to a different IRQ made it work again.
Even if your phonograph isn't sounding good anymore, you can probably just replace the cartridge (which is the only real electronic part of it anyway). I just got one of the cheaper Grado's from an Internet supplier for around $40, which is less than I paid for my previous cartridge over 10 years ago. Sounds really nice, too.
It will be the case while the economy is good, and there's plenty of money to throw around. A lot of people don't like to change what they're used to, and they're especially willing to spend other peoples' money so they can continue using the only office applications they've bothered to learn.
Don't know if it was perfect, but I found that a Beta from a few months ago was able to render bidirectional text. I may have had to set the character-code manually, though.
Yes... And maybe they're working on a difficult problem that they need to sleep on, or perhaps ponder while they go for a jog.
Or maybe they need to get out early enough to visit their state's Labor Board office to put in a complaint about you requiring overtime but not paying for it!
Actually, I got a Voodoo3/1000 at Fryes for $50, and it does hardware-assisted Glide/OpenGL with just slightly less performance than the more expensive Voodood3's.
Re:Price-Performance of "iCubes" and other Macs
on
X On OSX Now Free
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· Score: 1
I remember thinking this years ago, when the Mac was still a strong contender, and CD drives were first becoming available. I'd see ads in the papers, with the CD drive for the PC costing $100, and the one for the Mac $200. And this seemed to be the case for most any piece of hardware.
As for performance: I played around with an iMac at the local science museum a few weeks ago, and the general response speed reminded me of my old 486 that occasionally gets uses as an X-server.
So, what is the best-of-breed desktop OS? Personally, I still think OS/2 provided the nicest user-experience, but I could also understand why someone would vote for the Mac.
In any case, I don't think the author really understands what an OS does, or where an OS ends and a GUI begins.
Reminds me: A few weeks ago I was waiting in line at a "Home Club" store to check out, when the guy running the cash register in the line next to mine asked my line's cashier for help. She looked over at his screen, then told him to hit ctrl-alt-delete.
"Are these registers running Windows?" I asked incredulously when I got to the head of the line.
"Yes," she answered, "that's why they go down so often."
I have similar experience, having worked on the Exult project about three years. Here are some comments and suggestions:
1. Yours is a specialized utility, so advertise it in places where bb users are likely to browse. For example, I usually post Exult release notices on the Ultima newsgroups. Also, put it on freshmeat.net; that gets a lot more hits from casual users.
2. Most people won't bother trying your program until it's fairly far along. I received very little feedback the first year.
3. Most emails will be from users with bugs or suggestions. If your utility is small, focused, and works right, you won't get as much email.
4. It takes even longer before others will contribute. In my case, a couple people helped a little during the second year; but it was only during the third year, when the code base had grown quite large, that I started getting major help.
5. (I hate to admit this...) Exult didn't start getting a lot of users until one of the contributors ported it to Win32, after I had replaced the X code with SDL.
...take a look at the open-source Exult game engine for playing U7. We're already soking up CPU cycles using a 2X scaler contributed by the fellow who wrote the scaling code for Snes. It gives you double the original resolution with amazing clarity.
First, it's got a kernel that works on my new Gateway, which earlier ones failed on. Plus, they have XFree86 4.x support for the ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card.
And their new X installer, sax2, is amazing. I was expecting the usual questions about monitor syncs, video card brand, mouse protocol, maybe RAMDAC (yuck). But I typed 'sax2' at the command-line, watched it print a few dots... and suddendly, X came up at something like 1800x1600 with a small dialog box asking if it looked okay.
That was it!
Same experience here. Nearly every job I've had over the last 20 years was obtained through a personal contact, in most cases through someone who really didn't know anything about my actual work.
I don't think so. In the pre-online days, all the news I read came from 'standard' sources like the local newspaper or Time, while reading more varied sources was too much work.
Now, with a few clicks through Yahoo, I can not only read what the major U.S. news sources have to say, but I can also read opinions from all over the world. So, for example, I can easily get both the Arab and Israeli points of view regarding their conflict, not just the U.S. view.
Slashdot Mirror
... they could just write 100 random bytes to any non-Windows partition every so often. Eventually, users would decide that Linux was too unstable to have around.
Gcc,gdb
Gtk+, Gimp
Grep,sed,tar,diff,bash,ar,ld,awk,ls,ps,rcs,cvs,du,
fetchmail,procmail,find,flex,gv,gzip...
Okay, maybe some of the above aren't officially Gnu tools, but they're all, I believe, GPL.
Besides, adolescents who are trying to get attention will usually go away if they're ignored.
Not all open-source software is great; lots of it sucks too. But my experience is that if it's from Gnu or Kde, it's likely that it will be good.
Lately, I've been hearing Windows developers talk about how cool it is to use Cygwin on NT. Yet I recall using the Gnu EMX tools under OS/2 over 5 years ago.
In addition, it is especially cool having this feature in a free and open environment.
I'd vote for the Ultimas as among the most addictive, so much that when you're done playing, you can spend even more time reverse-engineering them.
On the other hand, Senator Slade (the "Senator from Microsoft") won't be coming back.
So perhaps the killer app. is Gnu? That should make RMS happy.
It's already happening: Just substitute Seattle for Detroit, and Finland for Japan.
I do recall running FM 3 in Wine a few years ago, but that was the Win16 version.
Speaking of NIC's: When my NIC stopped working in Windows, I went to "System Properties", and it told me that it was working fine. After wasting about 4 hours fiddling with things (with every minor change requiring a reboot), I finally found that switching to a different IRQ made it work again.
Even if your phonograph isn't sounding good anymore, you can probably just replace the cartridge (which is the only real electronic part of it anyway). I just got one of the cheaper Grado's from an Internet supplier for around $40, which is less than I paid for my previous cartridge over 10 years ago. Sounds really nice, too.
It will be the case while the economy is good, and there's plenty of money to throw around. A lot of people don't like to change what they're used to, and they're especially willing to spend other peoples' money so they can continue using the only office applications they've bothered to learn.
Don't know if it was perfect, but I found that a Beta from a few months ago was able to render bidirectional text. I may have had to set the character-code manually, though.
Or maybe they need to get out early enough to visit their state's Labor Board office to put in a complaint about you requiring overtime but not paying for it!
Actually, I got a Voodoo3/1000 at Fryes for $50, and it does hardware-assisted Glide/OpenGL with just slightly less performance than the more expensive Voodood3's.
As for performance: I played around with an iMac at the local science museum a few weeks ago, and the general response speed reminded me of my old 486 that occasionally gets uses as an X-server.
In any case, I don't think the author really understands what an OS does, or where an OS ends and a GUI begins.
"Are these registers running Windows?" I asked incredulously when I got to the head of the line.
"Yes," she answered, "that's why they go down so often."
1. Yours is a specialized utility, so advertise it in places where bb users are likely to browse. For example, I usually post Exult release notices on the Ultima newsgroups. Also, put it on freshmeat.net; that gets a lot more hits from casual users.
2. Most people won't bother trying your program until it's fairly far along. I received very little feedback the first year.
3. Most emails will be from users with bugs or suggestions. If your utility is small, focused, and works right, you won't get as much email.
4. It takes even longer before others will contribute. In my case, a couple people helped a little during the second year; but it was only during the third year, when the code base had grown quite large, that I started getting major help.
5. (I hate to admit this...) Exult didn't start getting a lot of users until one of the contributors ported it to Win32, after I had replaced the X code with SDL.
...take a look at the open-source Exult game engine for playing U7. We're already soking up CPU cycles using a 2X scaler contributed by the fellow who wrote the scaling code for Snes. It gives you double the original resolution with amazing clarity.
So by 1993, our culture was already corrupted.
And their new X installer, sax2, is amazing. I was expecting the usual questions about monitor syncs, video card brand, mouse protocol, maybe RAMDAC (yuck). But I typed 'sax2' at the command-line, watched it print a few dots... and suddendly, X came up at something like 1800x1600 with a small dialog box asking if it looked okay. That was it!
Same experience here. Nearly every job I've had over the last 20 years was obtained through a personal contact, in most cases through someone who really didn't know anything about my actual work.
Now, with a few clicks through Yahoo, I can not only read what the major U.S. news sources have to say, but I can also read opinions from all over the world. So, for example, I can easily get both the Arab and Israeli points of view regarding their conflict, not just the U.S. view.