Linux is sort of similar to Mac in that respect. While lacking in wizards, most distributions come with a large collection of manpages and HOWTO files. The problem with Linux, however, is in finding which man page or HOWTO to read, and which part of it to read. I think that in trying to solve linux's user-friendliness problem we should be looking at Apple's help system rather than Microsoft's wizard system. What we need for Linux is a way of indexing and searching the manpages, README, and HOWTO files in a friendly, context-sensitive way.
Just as I thought! Every copy of linux is costing the software industry over a billion dollars!
Looks like Steve Jackson Games' Illuminati Game
on
Mapping the Spam
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· Score: 1
The first thing I thought of when I saw that map was a game of Steve Jackson's Illuminati. Maybe he can make a card game called Spam Wars or something.
I might watch a 2 hour demo if it were really good, though I might not pay 8 dollars. So are we talking about business or culture?
I expected to see "Lunix" and "Torvaldez"
on
Is Linux Dead?
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· Score: 1
That article read just like a troll. For instance:
"So converting meant learning an arcane vocabulary of computerese to give the PC even the simplest commands"
I imagine "computerese" is supposed to mean "computer language". At any rate, it's an absurd thing to say that computers are programmed in "computerese". Does that mean C, Smalltalk and Python are dialects of Computerese?
Reading that awful text, I really expected at any moment to see "Lunix" or "Torvaldez"...
True, patents are "swords" not "shields". However, patents can be used "defensively" in the sense that the best defence is offence. That is to say, the threat of countersuit based on your patents can get the other party to back down.
Furthermore, being able to threaten a countersuit is an effective way to reach a settlement. Sadly, it is sometimes easier to stock up on "defensive" patents which can be used to threaten, than it is to actually go into litigation and challenge patents on prior art.
I say, if astronauts meet extraterrestrial lifeforms on Mars they should take precautions. It would be truly stupid not to. Therefore, I think they should play it safe(r) and wear a condom. I mean, it's not just them who could get infected: they could contaminate the EARTH! DUH!
Actually, this could be the purest form of representative democracy: hook the congressman up to a computer that processes the instructions from all of the consitutuents and calculates what the "Public" wants.
After posting the previous message, I realized to my horror that I might have suggested a way of circumventing a protection device. Therefore, I take back everything I said. Don't try to hack Transformer packages!
Sweet! And then there were Megatron! Optimus Prime! Prowl! I think I must have practised my reading and math by putting the piece of red cellophane over the stats chart in order to read the "secret" stats for each robot.
Now I realize that I don't have to BUY the robot to read the stats. You can do one of two things: -Screw your eyes up and ignore the red junk, and make out the black line that indicates the robot's stats -Buy just ONE transformer, and carry the red cellophane with you into the store. Sneak it in your sleeve. Then, when no one is watching, slip it out and put it over the Transformer's box. Read the stats! Yeah! SWEET! Bumblebee has 20 firepower!!!
If you too specialized though, the programs become free again, because there's no market. There are a lot of extremely specialized programs, dealing with stuff from differential equation to gene sequence analysis, that are not commercial. It's only when someone takes those algorithms, puts them all together, and slaps a GUI on that it becomes marketable and commercialized.
I agree with you, though, that there are stretches on the complexity spectrum where commercial software dominates.
>the more specialized the programs get, the less >likely you will find a free alternative. These >programs normally take a higher expertise level >(ie, you need to be a chemistry expert to design a >feasible chemistry app), and the open source need >just isn't there.
You mention Bill Gates. He never was one of those typical MBA types either, but he did well.
MBA types are probably more consistent in terms of management ability than scientists and engineers. That's just because there's less weeding and grooming for those qualities on the tech side. But when you look at the history, quite a lot of good managers and businessmen come out of there too, and they tend to be much more "out of the box"
What a brilliant idea. Even better though, we should tax police shows and police fiction, as well as police-themed toys. We could use this money to pay for law enforcement, so that only people who like that stuff pay for it.
Also, we should tax movies about war, and pay the pentagon with that. And TV shows about the white house... would pay for politicians.
I think the greatest, though not the only, flaw with this proposal is that the taxes will be imposed even on those sci-fi works that warn us NOT to mess with things man was never meant to know, that warn us that if we go into space, we may bring upon humanity the wrath of giant lizards.
The other obscene thing is that, if when the record pressures your government to impose CD levies, they will use the inflated CD price as the basis for calculating how much they "lose" every time someone buys a blank CD.
The more money they get from levies, the more incentive they will have to boost their "price". They'll blame the declining sales on piracy of course, and demand an ever greater levy on blank CD's.
Those are just a few of the economic errors that plague CD levies.
They're not going to be dirt cheap any more. The levy already makes up close to half your CD price. With the new levy, CD's are going to be close to a dollar. If you buy a couple hundred CD's, it would be worth getting them from the US.
Slashdot Mirror
why don't you give her a nice icon for "killall -9 netscape"?
How about PySol? It's the most comprehensive and nice-looking solitaire game I know of.
>But for many, less educated people, the PC is a
>no-brainer.
^^^^^^^^^^^
precisely.
Linux is sort of similar to Mac in that respect. While lacking in wizards, most distributions come with a large collection of manpages and HOWTO files. The problem with Linux, however, is in finding which man page or HOWTO to read, and which part of it to read. I think that in trying to solve linux's user-friendliness problem we should be looking at Apple's help system rather than Microsoft's wizard system. What we need for Linux is a way of indexing and searching the manpages, README, and HOWTO files in a friendly, context-sensitive way.
True.
It's not size that matters. It's how long you keep it up.
Just as I thought! Every copy of linux is costing the software industry over a billion dollars!
The first thing I thought of when I saw that map was a game of Steve Jackson's Illuminati. Maybe he can make a card game called Spam Wars or something.
I might watch a 2 hour demo if it were really good, though I might not pay 8 dollars. So are we talking about business or culture?
That article read just like a troll. For instance:
"So converting meant learning an arcane vocabulary of computerese to give the PC even the simplest commands"
I imagine "computerese" is supposed to mean "computer language". At any rate, it's an absurd thing to say that computers are programmed in "computerese". Does that mean C, Smalltalk and Python are dialects of Computerese?
Reading that awful text, I really expected at any moment to see "Lunix" or "Torvaldez"...
alternatively, instead of going to JAHANNUM, apt-get install nethack and go to Gehennom. If, that is, you are truly a strong adventurer.
I just checked out that lawmeme site and it is BIZARRE. No "first posts" or goatsex or anything. What is up with those law people? Very disturbing.
True, patents are "swords" not "shields". However, patents can be used "defensively" in the sense that the best defence is offence. That is to say, the threat of countersuit based on your patents can get the other party to back down.
Furthermore, being able to threaten a countersuit is an effective way to reach a settlement. Sadly, it is sometimes easier to stock up on "defensive" patents which can be used to threaten, than it is to actually go into litigation and challenge patents on prior art.
I say, if astronauts meet extraterrestrial lifeforms on Mars they should take precautions. It would be truly stupid not to. Therefore, I think they should play it safe(r) and wear a condom. I mean, it's not just them who could get infected: they could contaminate the EARTH! DUH!
Actually, this could be the purest form of representative democracy: hook the congressman up to a computer that processes the instructions from all of the consitutuents and calculates what the "Public" wants.
What happens if he also gets one for you? Then you'd have an infinite loop: he controls you, you control him, he controls you, etc.
After posting the previous message, I realized to my horror that I might have suggested a way of circumventing a protection device. Therefore, I take back everything I said. Don't try to hack Transformer packages!
Sweet! And then there were Megatron! Optimus Prime! Prowl! I think I must have practised my reading and math by putting the piece of red cellophane over the stats chart in order to read the "secret" stats for each robot.
Now I realize that I don't have to BUY the robot to read the stats. You can do one of two things:
-Screw your eyes up and ignore the red junk, and make out the black line that indicates the robot's stats
-Buy just ONE transformer, and carry the red cellophane with you into the store. Sneak it in your sleeve. Then, when no one is watching, slip it out and put it over the Transformer's box. Read the stats! Yeah! SWEET! Bumblebee has 20 firepower!!!
If you too specialized though, the programs become free again, because there's no market. There are a lot of extremely specialized programs, dealing with stuff from differential equation to gene sequence analysis, that are not commercial. It's only when someone takes those algorithms, puts them all together, and slaps a GUI on that it becomes marketable and commercialized.
I agree with you, though, that there are stretches on the complexity spectrum where commercial software dominates.
>the more specialized the programs get, the less >likely you will find a free alternative. These >programs normally take a higher expertise level >(ie, you need to be a chemistry expert to design a >feasible chemistry app), and the open source need >just isn't there.
You mention Bill Gates. He never was one of those typical MBA types either, but he did well.
MBA types are probably more consistent in terms of management ability than scientists and engineers. That's just because there's less weeding and grooming for those qualities on the tech side. But when you look at the history, quite a lot of good managers and businessmen come out of there too, and they tend to be much more "out of the box"
What a brilliant idea. Even better though, we should tax police shows and police fiction, as well as police-themed toys. We could use this money to pay for law enforcement, so that only people who like that stuff pay for it.
Also, we should tax movies about war, and pay the pentagon with that. And TV shows about the white house... would pay for politicians.
Great idea!
I think the greatest, though not the only, flaw with this proposal is that the taxes will be imposed even on those sci-fi works that warn us NOT to mess with things man was never meant to know, that warn us that if we go into space, we may bring upon humanity the wrath of giant lizards.
The other obscene thing is that, if when the record pressures your government to impose CD levies, they will use the inflated CD price as the basis for calculating how much they "lose" every time someone buys a blank CD.
The more money they get from levies, the more incentive they will have to boost their "price". They'll blame the declining sales on piracy of course, and demand an ever greater levy on blank CD's.
Those are just a few of the economic errors that plague CD levies.
How do you get the wheelmouse to fast forward and rewind? I always just use the arrow keys. Space bar pauses.
They're not going to be dirt cheap any more. The levy already makes up close to half your CD price. With the new levy, CD's are going to be close to a dollar. If you buy a couple hundred CD's, it would be worth getting them from the US.