Well, if they dropped the Mac market it would be more significant than dropping the linux market, but not by much.
And I figured out the "percentage" simply based on the fact that a very small percentage of the home computer userbase runs linux. And not all of them run WoW. In fact, there are so few people using linux as a desktop that if *every single one of them* ran WoW, they would still not be a significant portion of Blizzard's subscriber base.
Furthermore, Cedega users are not identified the same as windows users. If they were, there would be no way to target them in the way that the OP describes.
One of the most genius moves Apple ever made was to rewrite the APIs for OS X and leaving classic in the past where it belongs. Sure, they threw in an emulation layer. If they had written classic support into the OS we would have an API nightmare.
Contrast with Windows Vista. Microsoft is trying very hard to be backwards-compatible with all of the software released even as far back as 1998. As a result they are stuck with DLL hell and a large and bloated OS. I'm sure they would love to rewrite some of it, but that would kill backwards compatibility for them. Of course their business would suffer greatly if they were to rewrite a lot of the OS without worrying about legacy apps, and that is why they won't do it. But one day they will need to, and they have let things build up to a point where soon they will need to do it just to make a working OS. Look at all the problems getting Vista to work properly. See the legacy dialogues and features it is stuck with.
Firefox, on the other hand, is taking an example from Apple. Unlike Microsoft, Firefox will not lose a lot of money or market share by doing this. They are removing the cruft and crap from their software now, like Apple did; instead of waiting to do it later (like Microsoft) when it will inevitably be harder to do. This is a good long-term decision for Firefox and will ensure that is isn't held back in terms of features or development by legacy cruft.
I think you have the two mixed up. Stuff only makes it into testing after it has already been in unstable. Most of the stuff that makes it into testing works.
OTOH, running a sid(unstable)-based desktop system is a lot of fun if you don't depend on it. It is like a game of russian roultette every time you run apt-get upgrade. What will break this time?
And the next time the EU invents something that changes the world, they can keep that.
They should consider themselves lucky that we have set up a decentralized and generally fair and well-thought-out system of running things that makes the internet work so well.
We should only consider letting someone else control it if they can show themselves able to do a better job.
Well, over here signing something when you pay with a credit card offers very little in the way of security. I should know, I work as a cashier.
When you sign on one of those electronic screens at a checkout counter, it doesn't come out looking like your signature, or anyone else's for that matter. And when you sign one of the silly little slips of paper, they just get filed away into a drawer to get lost and mangles like everything else.
Credit card fraud would be very easy to commit with or without a signature, the signature makes little difference unless you find an unusually diligent cashier (good luck!) who will actually look at the signature on your card and check your ID.
Well, Ubuntu Linux is set up with sudo all set up right off the bat, which is probably the way things will be setup in the future. The user can use his or her own password to get root privileges.
I think that anyone who is considering buying a PC for Lindows would be much better served buying a Mac or Mac Mini and using OS X instead. They'll spend the same amount of money and have an OS that is better-designed and is backed by a corporation and a CEO who actually know what they are talking about.
It would be better if people would just donate unused computers to these countries. I'm sure the libraries and educational institutions would appreciate them, and they would be free.
chances are you won't. Becuase if you wanted broadband, you would have gotten it last year or the year before.
My parents have 56k dialup, and while you basically cannot download crap or play games online, for what they do (a little web surfing, check email, etc.), it is perfectly adequate.
I have worked at a grocery store last year. When you sign up for the card, there is a box you can check to not have your information used or mail sent to you. You don't actually even need to put in your name/address/phone nunber, all you need to do is check the box.
So the grocery stores are not abusing private info, the permission was given for them to use the info when people signed up. If you don't want your info used, you don't have to give it to them.
I know that MHz doesn't mean alot anymore. The PROBLEM is that by labeling 1.4MHz cpus as AMD 1600, thay are decieving customers (either on purpose or intentionally) as to the true clock speed. This reeks of the old Cyrix scheme of naming cpus by "performance rating", which basically meant they were selling 166s as 200s. They confused many, many people.
If, as AMD says, MHz doesn't matter, then they should educate the public, instead of selling ambiguously labeled cpus.
Oh well, we'll always be able to get the REAL speeds from enthusiast sites.;-P
For people with lots of boxes, if you get a small sturdy rack for them, and then get a single keyboard/mouse/monitor, you can use switches (kvm switches, I think; Belkin makes some), you could set it up so all of the computers use one desk. So, in the space that one computer would take up, you could bolt a thin rack to the wall and have four or five!
I'll really have to look into that.
Hmm, maybe I'll patent the use of swear words and make millions off suing Hollywood. Or maybe patent the use of one click to use a link! Or maybe just patent the left mouse button!!!
With the way things are going, someone sufficiently rich could probably pull that off.
Personally, I don't like the idea of supporting the communist government. I believe that we should definitely not, but the big business guys make the descisions. Sorry!
Slashdot Mirror
Well, if they dropped the Mac market it would be more significant than dropping the linux market, but not by much.
And I figured out the "percentage" simply based on the fact that a very small percentage of the home computer userbase runs linux. And not all of them run WoW. In fact, there are so few people using linux as a desktop that if *every single one of them* ran WoW, they would still not be a significant portion of Blizzard's subscriber base.
Furthermore, Cedega users are not identified the same as windows users. If they were, there would be no way to target them in the way that the OP describes.
Actually, they can afford to.
And besides that, Linux gamers are not in any way a significant percentage of the user base of this game.
One of the most genius moves Apple ever made was to rewrite the APIs for OS X and leaving classic in the past where it belongs. Sure, they threw in an emulation layer. If they had written classic support into the OS we would have an API nightmare.
Contrast with Windows Vista. Microsoft is trying very hard to be backwards-compatible with all of the software released even as far back as 1998. As a result they are stuck with DLL hell and a large and bloated OS. I'm sure they would love to rewrite some of it, but that would kill backwards compatibility for them. Of course their business would suffer greatly if they were to rewrite a lot of the OS without worrying about legacy apps, and that is why they won't do it. But one day they will need to, and they have let things build up to a point where soon they will need to do it just to make a working OS. Look at all the problems getting Vista to work properly. See the legacy dialogues and features it is stuck with.
Firefox, on the other hand, is taking an example from Apple. Unlike Microsoft, Firefox will not lose a lot of money or market share by doing this. They are removing the cruft and crap from their software now, like Apple did; instead of waiting to do it later (like Microsoft) when it will inevitably be harder to do. This is a good long-term decision for Firefox and will ensure that is isn't held back in terms of features or development by legacy cruft.
I think you have the two mixed up. Stuff only makes it into testing after it has already been in unstable. Most of the stuff that makes it into testing works.
OTOH, running a sid(unstable)-based desktop system is a lot of fun if you don't depend on it. It is like a game of russian roultette every time you run apt-get upgrade. What will break this time?
I say we get to keep it.
And the next time the EU invents something that changes the world, they can keep that.
They should consider themselves lucky that we have set up a decentralized and generally fair and well-thought-out system of running things that makes the internet work so well.
We should only consider letting someone else control it if they can show themselves able to do a better job.
I personally know the submitter, commonchaos, and he is not affiliated with the company.
The company is not slashdotting themselves for publicity.
Well, over here signing something when you pay with a credit card offers very little in the way of security. I should know, I work as a cashier.
When you sign on one of those electronic screens at a checkout counter, it doesn't come out looking like your signature, or anyone else's for that matter. And when you sign one of the silly little slips of paper, they just get filed away into a drawer to get lost and mangles like everything else.
Credit card fraud would be very easy to commit with or without a signature, the signature makes little difference unless you find an unusually diligent cashier (good luck!) who will actually look at the signature on your card and check your ID.
Well, Ubuntu Linux is set up with sudo all set up right off the bat, which is probably the way things will be setup in the future. The user can use his or her own password to get root privileges.
I think that anyone who is considering buying a PC for Lindows would be much better served buying a Mac or Mac Mini and using OS X instead. They'll spend the same amount of money and have an OS that is better-designed and is backed by a corporation and a CEO who actually know what they are talking about.
It would be better if people would just donate unused computers to these countries. I'm sure the libraries and educational institutions would appreciate them, and they would be free.
Is there a charity that does this?
Ze goggles! Zey do nothing!
My eyes!
How in the heck did this get modded as Insightful?
The mind boggles.
With a name like K-Meleon, I don't think that MS needs to worry anytime soon.
I mean, people I know think Mozilla sounds stupid enough...
It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
chances are you won't. Becuase if you wanted broadband, you would have gotten it last year or the year before.
My parents have 56k dialup, and while you basically cannot download crap or play games online, for what they do (a little web surfing, check email, etc.), it is perfectly adequate.
I have seen pictures of this elsewhere, I believe in a magazine. So I get the feeling that they do indeed exist, and the company is legitimate.
However, that does not make them any less stupid...
I have worked at a grocery store last year. When you sign up for the card, there is a box you can check to not have your information used or mail sent to you. You don't actually even need to put in your name/address/phone nunber, all you need to do is check the box.
So the grocery stores are not abusing private info, the permission was given for them to use the info when people signed up. If you don't want your info used, you don't have to give it to them.
PS - I worked for Albertson's.
Along the same lines, do you find that piracy on those particular items goes up, just because they are protected?
(i.e., people break the protection or hack it just for the challenge, or because it was protected in the first place?)
Put it in a thick rubber casing, and attach it to a USB plug.
Voila!
Bravo to Bruce Perens for not being HP's bitch on this one, and standing up for himself.
Yes, microsoft are bastards, but really:
just fdisk the thing when you get it.
From CNN:
"The system promises fewer computer crashes and will allow users to delete data from their hard drive."
[sarcasm]
Wow! I can delete stuff now?!?!?
I must spend $300 RIGHT AWAY!!!
[/sarcasm]
I know that MHz doesn't mean alot anymore. The PROBLEM is that by labeling 1.4MHz cpus as AMD 1600, thay are decieving customers (either on purpose or intentionally) as to the true clock speed. This reeks of the old Cyrix scheme of naming cpus by "performance rating", which basically meant they were selling 166s as 200s. They confused many, many people.
;-P
If, as AMD says, MHz doesn't matter, then they should educate the public, instead of selling ambiguously labeled cpus.
Oh well, we'll always be able to get the REAL speeds from enthusiast sites.
For people with lots of boxes, if you get a small sturdy rack for them, and then get a single keyboard/mouse/monitor, you can use switches (kvm switches, I think; Belkin makes some), you could set it up so all of the computers use one desk. So, in the space that one computer would take up, you could bolt a thin rack to the wall and have four or five! I'll really have to look into that.
Hmm, maybe I'll patent the use of swear words and make millions off suing Hollywood. Or maybe patent the use of one click to use a link! Or maybe just patent the left mouse button!!! With the way things are going, someone sufficiently rich could probably pull that off.
Personally, I don't like the idea of supporting the communist government. I believe that we should definitely not, but the big business guys make the descisions. Sorry!