It's a combination of both factors. OS X was the first consumer OS to make people go 'ooh... shiny...' and that had a heavy effect. However, the iPod halo effect has been increasing over the years, and as new products and services have been launched, including iTunes, iTMS, Safari, Apple TV, and, most recently, MobileMe, these services have generated their own halo effects, meaning that when people come to choosing their next computer, they're likely to hold Apple in a higher regard than they did before.
As a long-time Windows user who has since switched to both OS X and Linux...
1 - Registry bloat. No other OS keeps app settings and preferences in what really amounts of a gigantic text file. Many apps do NOT remove registry entries correctly (or fully) when uninstalled. Inevitably this file will bloat, bloat, bloat, bloat until it takes forever just to get anything out of it.
*nix does have the advantage here, as configuration is stored in.conf or.plist files, removing a single point of failure. However, there's a major problem in that these files can live anywhere - it could be in/etc,/var, or even as a hidden file in the user's home folder. This means it's sometimes very difficult to find (and edit) the configuration file you're looking for. In a way, it can be more irritating, especially as you're more likely to edit a conf or plist in Unix than you are to run regedit in Windows.
I myself have always liked the idea of a 'registry' of configuration files, as in, a directory with suitably-named symlinks to all configuration files on the system. It sounds like a reasonable compromise between convenience, security and anti-bloating.
2 - System folder bloat. No package manager in Windows, yet things insist on storing dependencies in a shared manner. This is pain, since *nobody* dares remove any library from your system upon uninstall because nobody is sure if anyone else needs it. As you install/uninstall things from your system, this folder will bloat, bloat, bloat. It's incredible how much larger a Windows install can get just 1 year after a fresh reformat.
To be fair, that's generally a problem with the installers for said software. True, Windows Installer packages aren't much better, but in particular the InstallShield wizard is dreadful at cleaning up after itself.
These things are unavoidable. Your users may well have avoided these issues if their machines were locked like Fort Knox and they were unable to install and tweak to their liking. As a heavy dev who's always trying new tools, the constant install/uninstall cycle takes its toll VERY VERY quickly in Windows, whereas in OS X and Linux the system remains squeaky clean.
Not 'completely' squeaky clean. Invariably it'll stick a few lines in the apt log, or fail to clean up the unpacked files. True, it's easy with most PMs to clean this up, but IMHO it should be automatic, and it does mean the system isn't 'completely' squeaky clean.
Oh, and did I mention that I need admin privileges to do ANYTHING? I can't even install a flash plugin for *myself* without needing full admin privileges to the system. This is lazy programming, and Windows is full of it. If I were a sysadmin I'd be tearing my hair out. It's either: "screw you guys, use the pre-installed software and nothing else", or "have fun with full admin, I'll be here waiting for your f'ed up computer". There's no happy medium.
This is sadly typical of the very sloppy user account system in Windows, and I will rant for a little while about this.
The way most Unix-like systems have worked - for years, I might add - is to provide users with a standard set of privileges (modify your own home folder and nothing else), and, if they either have the root password or sudo and administrative access, allow them to perform tasks as root. In sudo's case, it will ask for the user's password to add an extra level of security.
Windows Vista's UAC system is nothing short of shocking. All administrators have superuser privileges, which, as stated above, are needed for the most menial of tasks, such as changing the start menu. Worse still, they're not prompted for a password, but just let through with a dialogue box that people eventually just learn to click through. This is an awful security risk.
the Republicans have shown up the Democrats with their web savvy
Since when was 'savvy' a noun? It can be used as an adjective to mean someone who is well-informed and perceptive. It can also be a verb, meaning 'to understand'. However, it does not function as a noun.
Use the "SECURITY OVERRIDE" function! That always works...
Seriously though, WHY does a software engineer have network-wide sudo access? They should, at most, have root access for their own system, and NOT across the domain/subnet/workgroup/whatever.
If a router needs rebooting every day or so, it's a sign it's on its way out IMO. My Linksys router has started doing that, and now I'm shopping for a replacement. (I used to be able to get around 300 days, solid, out of it.)
The exception is the AirPort base stations. They have an irritating flaw which means they need rebooting every time the internet connection goes down, even for a fraction of a second. This behaviour varies between modems, but it's quite common. It's been around for a while, but AFAIK Apple hasn't released a software update to fix it.
The user should be able to choose. This is why we have Ubuntu and Gobuntu as separate distros. My own personal policy is "use the best tool for the job", regardless of whether it's GPL, APSL, CCDL, or MSEULA.
I personally like the idea of having a distro which, at install, offers to either install the "Borg Edition for n00bs" with proprietary drivers, codecs, etc, or to install the "Freetard Edition for RMS" with only GPL-compatible code.
For once, I find myself saying 'believe the rumour sites'.
Did anyone seriously expect the launch would go without a hiccup? True, Apple's servers have buckled surprisingly early, but everyone knew that there was no way there'd be enough iPhones to go around on the first day.
That said, it's interesting to see there's no reports of iPhone-related violence, a la PS3/Xbox 360. Perhaps those running Unix on their devices are simply more civilised.
Nonsense. Your friend was lied to - all you have to do is buy a new phone and stick it on the old contract. It's basically a ploy to sell the phone shop's insurance.
It depends. Windows today still uses quite a lot of code from the earliest versions of Windows. However, considering the transition between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, it was practically a total rewrite. Mac OS X borrowed more from NeXTStep than OS 9, so I see no reason why Apple can't open-source Mac OS Classic.
That's why we have road signs. To decrease the probability that such genetic slush will kill themselves with another human, instead favouring removing them from the gene pool with a sign reading "Sign not in use".
They've only expressed an interest in using it on prisoner transport. It would be used for mass-murderers and sex offenders, not innocent women and children.
The reason we have the GPL is because it's the only license that was strong enough to survive Microsoft's ruthless business tactics and avoid the kinds of abuses that NeXT/Apple attempted. Believe me, most software developers would have preferred a different outcome, but it's Microsoft's fault that it has come down to this polarized choice.
Well, the fact is. no matter what, people are going to want to write and sell proprietary software - this is what RMS has not grasped.
We might as well play along with it, and if people are going to use FOSS, it needs to beat Windows in ease of use and simplicity hands down. Having fifteen-odd folders and some symlinks spewing out across the root of the file system (which doesn't even appear to correspond to the root of the hard disk) is not exactly a simple system, especially when an app installed by apt or yum might have gone into any one of them.
The thing Mac OS X/NeXTStep gave the free software world is publicity, if anything. If people are aware of alternatives to Windows, they'll start looking into them. NeXTStep originally proved that Unixes could be user-friendly, and also gave us the dock in its present form while it was at it. It also pushed OOP heavily, and was the first commercially successful implementation of OOP and Objective-C.
With regards to Apple 'taking' from GNU/BSD - arguably, the same could be said of GNU taking from the original AT&T Unix. True, it didn't take any code, but it took many concepts, and I don't see RMS writing cheques to AT&T every week or so.
The only reason Apple is succeeding is because they're making a damn good OS out of damn good components, including the tiny bits of GNU that are rattling around in there somewhere.
RMS isn't slandering authors of proprietary software in general, he is talking about Gates and Microsoft, a convicted monopolist that has a 20 year documented record of sleazy, anti-competitive business tactics, deliberate incompatibilities and bugs, security holes, and lack of originality.
But he's also claiming that proprietary software is wrong in itself, regardless of who develops it. He says himself:
But Gates didn't invent proprietary software, and thousands of other companies do the same thing. It's wrong, no matter who does it.
The users don't WANT to change it by themselves, though. They shouldn't have to change it. It should just work, and if it doesn't, they want to be able to phone someone up and moan about it. That's the reality.
Third world nations need competitive economies, not selective meddling and handouts from publicity hungry US billionaires. And in order to get competitive economies, they need US and Europe to do something about their protectionism and monopolies. If anybody should understand that, it's self-proclaimed free market advocates like you and Gates.
Free market advocate? How dare you.
I am simply proposing moderation of both methods. We can't allow Microsoft to interfere with politics, but we can't force EVERYONE to give away their software, which seems to be what RMS is proposing.
The fact is, like it or not, proprietary software is here to stay, and we can't avoid it or stop it. However, we can make it more acceptable - we can allow reasonable traading without cretinous idiocy from people like Bill Gates. Demonising proprietary software, and slandering its authors, is going to get us nowhere. In short, you're free to sell your software - you're also free to give it away. You aren't entitled to abuse a monopoly, and you are by no means required to do anything.
With regards to the Los Angeles Times, after the various inaccuracies (Gropegate etc) that have blighted it, you will forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical of what it reports.
In the UK, it looks like O2 will offer the iPhone on pay-as-you-go (that is, without contract), but for £199-ish (~$399), or, at the outside, £299 (~$599). The first is looking more likely. Nothing's been confirmed yet, though.
It seems to me that RMS is stuck in a little world of his own. He doesn't understand that proprietary software is here to stay, and he has now resorted to FUD and statements which are, to be quite frank, libellous in nature. He is disparaging a charity to claim that all proprietary software is evil, which I consider to be a deplorable method.
I never let my laptop out of my sight anywhere - as has been said, prevention is better than a cure. Do not check it in, take it on as hand luggage. If security wants to check your machine to prove it's not a cleverly disguised stick of dynamite, watch them. Keep an eye on your luggage, and if you see someone opening up a bag and helping themselves to its contents, take a picture with your mobile phone or equivalent: otherwise, it'll be your word against the baggage handler's.
Another thing that tends to stop the machine getting lost/stolen is to take it around in a bag that is not specifically a 'laptop' bag. I stick my Eee PC into my bag, a fabric satchel, and while it does mean that cables get a bit tangled up, everything is safe and it's less likely to draw thieves' attention to it. It also has the added advantage of being able to wrap it around your ankle, so if someone tries to pinch it, you'll feel it tugging against your leg.
It depends entirely on the OS that's most commonly used throughout the network. If you're using a lot of Windows PCs, one of the solutions from one of the major manufacturers (Buffalo, Freecom etc) should serve you well. If you're using a lot of Macintoshes running OS X and/or a lot of Unix boxes, then Apple's Time Machine will appeal to you (although its on-board storage space is comparatively small, so you may want to add another hard drive to it by USB). If using Linux, you might want to consider FreeNAS.
Each of these solutions has its own merits and pitfalls. If you're feeling adventurous, you could stick a RAID5 array into a small form-factor case like a pizza box, and stick FreeNAS on that.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a combination of both factors. OS X was the first consumer OS to make people go 'ooh... shiny...' and that had a heavy effect. However, the iPod halo effect has been increasing over the years, and as new products and services have been launched, including iTunes, iTMS, Safari, Apple TV, and, most recently, MobileMe, these services have generated their own halo effects, meaning that when people come to choosing their next computer, they're likely to hold Apple in a higher regard than they did before.
As a long-time Windows user who has since switched to both OS X and Linux...
1 - Registry bloat. No other OS keeps app settings and preferences in what really amounts of a gigantic text file. Many apps do NOT remove registry entries correctly (or fully) when uninstalled. Inevitably this file will bloat, bloat, bloat, bloat until it takes forever just to get anything out of it.
*nix does have the advantage here, as configuration is stored in .conf or .plist files, removing a single point of failure. However, there's a major problem in that these files can live anywhere - it could be in /etc, /var, or even as a hidden file in the user's home folder. This means it's sometimes very difficult to find (and edit) the configuration file you're looking for. In a way, it can be more irritating, especially as you're more likely to edit a conf or plist in Unix than you are to run regedit in Windows.
I myself have always liked the idea of a 'registry' of configuration files, as in, a directory with suitably-named symlinks to all configuration files on the system. It sounds like a reasonable compromise between convenience, security and anti-bloating.
2 - System folder bloat. No package manager in Windows, yet things insist on storing dependencies in a shared manner. This is pain, since *nobody* dares remove any library from your system upon uninstall because nobody is sure if anyone else needs it. As you install/uninstall things from your system, this folder will bloat, bloat, bloat. It's incredible how much larger a Windows install can get just 1 year after a fresh reformat.
To be fair, that's generally a problem with the installers for said software. True, Windows Installer packages aren't much better, but in particular the InstallShield wizard is dreadful at cleaning up after itself.
These things are unavoidable. Your users may well have avoided these issues if their machines were locked like Fort Knox and they were unable to install and tweak to their liking. As a heavy dev who's always trying new tools, the constant install/uninstall cycle takes its toll VERY VERY quickly in Windows, whereas in OS X and Linux the system remains squeaky clean.
Not 'completely' squeaky clean. Invariably it'll stick a few lines in the apt log, or fail to clean up the unpacked files. True, it's easy with most PMs to clean this up, but IMHO it should be automatic, and it does mean the system isn't 'completely' squeaky clean.
Oh, and did I mention that I need admin privileges to do ANYTHING? I can't even install a flash plugin for *myself* without needing full admin privileges to the system. This is lazy programming, and Windows is full of it. If I were a sysadmin I'd be tearing my hair out. It's either: "screw you guys, use the pre-installed software and nothing else", or "have fun with full admin, I'll be here waiting for your f'ed up computer". There's no happy medium.
This is sadly typical of the very sloppy user account system in Windows, and I will rant for a little while about this.
The way most Unix-like systems have worked - for years, I might add - is to provide users with a standard set of privileges (modify your own home folder and nothing else), and, if they either have the root password or sudo and administrative access, allow them to perform tasks as root. In sudo's case, it will ask for the user's password to add an extra level of security.
Windows Vista's UAC system is nothing short of shocking. All administrators have superuser privileges, which, as stated above, are needed for the most menial of tasks, such as changing the start menu. Worse still, they're not prompted for a password, but just let through with a dialogue box that people eventually just learn to click through. This is an awful security risk.
Worse still, all standard users are given /etc/su
the Republicans have shown up the Democrats with their web savvy
Since when was 'savvy' a noun? It can be used as an adjective to mean someone who is well-informed and perceptive. It can also be a verb, meaning 'to understand'. However, it does not function as a noun.
Mount it on one of those gas-lift platforms and turn it into an interesting chair.
Alternatively, you can run it through a photocopier at 40% and use it as an angle-poise lamp. It'd be a nice conversation starter at parties.
It also claims that he is a "computer engineer". That's very ambiguous. He could be either. Or both.
Use the "SECURITY OVERRIDE" function! That always works...
Seriously though, WHY does a software engineer have network-wide sudo access? They should, at most, have root access for their own system, and NOT across the domain/subnet/workgroup/whatever.
If a router needs rebooting every day or so, it's a sign it's on its way out IMO. My Linksys router has started doing that, and now I'm shopping for a replacement. (I used to be able to get around 300 days, solid, out of it.)
The exception is the AirPort base stations. They have an irritating flaw which means they need rebooting every time the internet connection goes down, even for a fraction of a second. This behaviour varies between modems, but it's quite common. It's been around for a while, but AFAIK Apple hasn't released a software update to fix it.
The user should be able to choose. This is why we have Ubuntu and Gobuntu as separate distros. My own personal policy is "use the best tool for the job", regardless of whether it's GPL, APSL, CCDL, or MSEULA.
I personally like the idea of having a distro which, at install, offers to either install the "Borg Edition for n00bs" with proprietary drivers, codecs, etc, or to install the "Freetard Edition for RMS" with only GPL-compatible code.
For once, I find myself saying 'believe the rumour sites'.
Did anyone seriously expect the launch would go without a hiccup? True, Apple's servers have buckled surprisingly early, but everyone knew that there was no way there'd be enough iPhones to go around on the first day.
That said, it's interesting to see there's no reports of iPhone-related violence, a la PS3/Xbox 360. Perhaps those running Unix on their devices are simply more civilised.
Nonsense. Your friend was lied to - all you have to do is buy a new phone and stick it on the old contract. It's basically a ploy to sell the phone shop's insurance.
It depends. Windows today still uses quite a lot of code from the earliest versions of Windows. However, considering the transition between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, it was practically a total rewrite. Mac OS X borrowed more from NeXTStep than OS 9, so I see no reason why Apple can't open-source Mac OS Classic.
That's why we have road signs. To decrease the probability that such genetic slush will kill themselves with another human, instead favouring removing them from the gene pool with a sign reading "Sign not in use".
They've only expressed an interest in using it on prisoner transport. It would be used for mass-murderers and sex offenders, not innocent women and children.
Another case of RTFA, methinks.
The reason we have the GPL is because it's the only license that was strong enough to survive Microsoft's ruthless business tactics and avoid the kinds of abuses that NeXT/Apple attempted. Believe me, most software developers would have preferred a different outcome, but it's Microsoft's fault that it has come down to this polarized choice.
Well, the fact is. no matter what, people are going to want to write and sell proprietary software - this is what RMS has not grasped.
We might as well play along with it, and if people are going to use FOSS, it needs to beat Windows in ease of use and simplicity hands down. Having fifteen-odd folders and some symlinks spewing out across the root of the file system (which doesn't even appear to correspond to the root of the hard disk) is not exactly a simple system, especially when an app installed by apt or yum might have gone into any one of them.
The thing Mac OS X/NeXTStep gave the free software world is publicity, if anything. If people are aware of alternatives to Windows, they'll start looking into them. NeXTStep originally proved that Unixes could be user-friendly, and also gave us the dock in its present form while it was at it. It also pushed OOP heavily, and was the first commercially successful implementation of OOP and Objective-C.
With regards to Apple 'taking' from GNU/BSD - arguably, the same could be said of GNU taking from the original AT&T Unix. True, it didn't take any code, but it took many concepts, and I don't see RMS writing cheques to AT&T every week or so.
The only reason Apple is succeeding is because they're making a damn good OS out of damn good components, including the tiny bits of GNU that are rattling around in there somewhere.
RMS isn't slandering authors of proprietary software in general, he is talking about Gates and Microsoft, a convicted monopolist that has a 20 year documented record of sleazy, anti-competitive business tactics, deliberate incompatibilities and bugs, security holes, and lack of originality.
But he's also claiming that proprietary software is wrong in itself, regardless of who develops it. He says himself:
But Gates didn't invent proprietary software, and thousands of other companies do the same thing. It's wrong, no matter who does it.
The users don't WANT to change it by themselves, though. They shouldn't have to change it. It should just work, and if it doesn't, they want to be able to phone someone up and moan about it. That's the reality.
I wish it to be known that I heartily concur with and endorse this statement.
Signed,
JOANTHAN ROTHWELL (Mr.)
Third world nations need competitive economies, not selective meddling and handouts from publicity hungry US billionaires. And in order to get competitive economies, they need US and Europe to do something about their protectionism and monopolies. If anybody should understand that, it's self-proclaimed free market advocates like you and Gates.
Free market advocate? How dare you.
I am simply proposing moderation of both methods. We can't allow Microsoft to interfere with politics, but we can't force EVERYONE to give away their software, which seems to be what RMS is proposing.
The fact is, like it or not, proprietary software is here to stay, and we can't avoid it or stop it. However, we can make it more acceptable - we can allow reasonable traading without cretinous idiocy from people like Bill Gates. Demonising proprietary software, and slandering its authors, is going to get us nowhere. In short, you're free to sell your software - you're also free to give it away. You aren't entitled to abuse a monopoly, and you are by no means required to do anything.
With regards to the Los Angeles Times, after the various inaccuracies (Gropegate etc) that have blighted it, you will forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical of what it reports.
Not my words. Blame Macworld, that ever-reliable fountain of information (yeah, right).
In the UK, it looks like O2 will offer the iPhone on pay-as-you-go (that is, without contract), but for £199-ish (~$399), or, at the outside, £299 (~$599). The first is looking more likely. Nothing's been confirmed yet, though.
It seems to me that RMS is stuck in a little world of his own. He doesn't understand that proprietary software is here to stay, and he has now resorted to FUD and statements which are, to be quite frank, libellous in nature. He is disparaging a charity to claim that all proprietary software is evil, which I consider to be a deplorable method.
Shame on you, Richard Stallman. Shame on you.
I never let my laptop out of my sight anywhere - as has been said, prevention is better than a cure. Do not check it in, take it on as hand luggage. If security wants to check your machine to prove it's not a cleverly disguised stick of dynamite, watch them. Keep an eye on your luggage, and if you see someone opening up a bag and helping themselves to its contents, take a picture with your mobile phone or equivalent: otherwise, it'll be your word against the baggage handler's.
Another thing that tends to stop the machine getting lost/stolen is to take it around in a bag that is not specifically a 'laptop' bag. I stick my Eee PC into my bag, a fabric satchel, and while it does mean that cables get a bit tangled up, everything is safe and it's less likely to draw thieves' attention to it. It also has the added advantage of being able to wrap it around your ankle, so if someone tries to pinch it, you'll feel it tugging against your leg.
It depends entirely on the OS that's most commonly used throughout the network. If you're using a lot of Windows PCs, one of the solutions from one of the major manufacturers (Buffalo, Freecom etc) should serve you well. If you're using a lot of Macintoshes running OS X and/or a lot of Unix boxes, then Apple's Time Machine will appeal to you (although its on-board storage space is comparatively small, so you may want to add another hard drive to it by USB). If using Linux, you might want to consider FreeNAS.
Each of these solutions has its own merits and pitfalls. If you're feeling adventurous, you could stick a RAID5 array into a small form-factor case like a pizza box, and stick FreeNAS on that.
Then why not plan ahead and make the phone call ten, or even fifteen, minutes before arriving?
No, in that instance, the conversation would consist of people shouting "I'll kn1f3 u!"