Just the existense of these kind of products proves that there's something really wrong with the OS market in general, and Microsoft's domination in particular. People seem to view Windows as something they don't want to use, but have to use anyway.
There are alternatives.
I agree. It is solid. I used slackware on my home servers for about five years. The reason I quit is because of the (according to me) superior pacage manager in Arch Linux (pacman). I also agree with you about PAM. Slackware used to lock PAM out based on security, but now PAM is rock solid as well. I'm not sure why they won't include it now. When I ran slackware on my machines, I hacked at least two of them to allow for PAM. I agree with you that this is a major change.
What is Slackware? Really?
I've used Slackware for about five years, and it's getting me confused to whether it's focusing on the server market or the workstation market. It only has thoroughly tested packages, which is good for servers, But why is it even including (an old version of) GNOME, then?
It's a true mystery, but congrats anyway to the GNOME packagers for getting though the shared object hell that often occurs on Slackware systems (IMHO).
Good thinking. I also saw this "nanowire" article. This could also be a feasible solution. I just forgot it while writing my previous comment. If it could power for twenty hours a laptop which now runs for two hours, then we have a solution to battery life issues with a lot of products.
I also read somewhere about a new kind of solar cell which is supposedly twice as effective as previous kinds. Using a nanowire battery as accumulator for such a solar cell, solar powered vehicles could benefit from both inventions and perhaps reach the size of a regular sedan.
First I'd come up with a series of reforms allowing for better public health care. Then I'd ban software patents and force all states to accept an open standard for office documents, preferably ODF. Removal of troops from Iraq and other areas would also rank high on my list.
I'm waiting for this invention to reach the public. This could very well be the answer to the environmental issues related to automotive propulsion and the short mileage of electrically propulsed vehicles. Unfortunately this will disappear somewhere within Lockheed Martin and/or some defense department somewhere, or it will get so covered in patents that no one can actually use it, or it will be lobbied to death.
I'm not surprised. Just look at the NetMD example, as many have pointed out. You had to install their (buggy) proprietary software (called NetMD Jukebox iirc) to transfer songs between the computer and the NetMD. Of course, this software ran only on windows. Many attempts to reverse engineer the NetMD protocol and many open letters and petitions to Sony later, the situation hasn't improved.
Sony should embrace open standards like everyone else. I don't see the point of pushing a proprietary protocol. You're not going to gain customers and therefore make money by doing so, but quite the opposite.
I'm not one bit surprised. Apparently EMI is realising that the RIAA's failing to organise the music industry, now that file sharing is more popular than ever. RIAA is simply too old to keep up in this new world of free information exchange and can no longer support itself upon the ageing copyright laws of the present.
At least, that's my theory.
You could rather go to a music store and buy a CD, then convert it to MP3 using ripper software. Perfectly legal if it's for personal use (at least here in Sweden). Additionally, you have the choice to onvert the CD to a lossless format such as FLAC. If downloading DRM-free music requires you to go to town to buy some card, you'd rather buy a CD . About the same price, more possibilities.
Or you could just ignore it all and just download torrents or whatever.
It's interesting to see Microsoft's actions here. They seem to think that the best way to handle an Open Source based competitor is to lower the price, but maintain their current proprietary licence. They just can't let go of the sources, because their belief in proprietary software is rock-solid. It's simply unthinkable. Yet, they're just sitting there while LAMP is gradually taking over the market completely. Sure, price is an important factor when deciding upon which software to use, but that's not all.
Microsoft is blind to the fact that businesses is settling for OSS competitors not only for its generally lower price, but also for the customisation possibilities and the fact that bugs generally get squished faster within OSS than in its proprietary counterparts.
If Microsoft really wants to reclaim market share, they really need to rethink their licencing.
Accessibility upgrades are always welcome. I've always been annoyed by the fact that there is almost no standardised accessibility tools under Linux distributions. I usually don't use mainstream distributions, but they should be complimented for their superior accessibility integration relative to less used distributions.
Does this also explain why shoelaces tie themselves into knots while I'm sleeping? I have long suspected my cat, but I guess science has a better explanation...
This is probably one of the reasons I recently went for a MacBook. The salespeople were there to assist and able to answer any question ranging from "Is that a computer?" to "Is the Darwin kernel a microkernel or a monolithic kernel?". There were about eight computers ranging from laptops to high end workstations set up so that interested shoppers could just walk in and check their mail. As for the "cult" atmosphere I can do nothing except agree, but hey, it's Apple.
In Sweden we have laws against publishing personal information of citizens. To publish even the equivalent of the social security number you must have the consent of the citizen in question. Unfortunately within license agreements the paragraph covering consent of publishing of personal information is buried deep within the text.
This shows that Windows just isn't designed to be an OS to use, rather than a piece of software you use to burn your linux install CD:s:)
No seriously, the system registry is the single largest mistake Microsoft has ever made. Files in/etc under *NIX doesn't render your Operating system unusable if they're corrupted.
It would be much easier to just release Flash Player under the GPL. Then people could compile versions for their own architecture/OS. Also it would be taking some of the load from the Adobe development team, in favour of better community support.
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Just the existense of these kind of products proves that there's something really wrong with the OS market in general, and Microsoft's domination in particular. People seem to view Windows as something they don't want to use, but have to use anyway.
There are alternatives.
I agree. It is solid. I used slackware on my home servers for about five years. The reason I quit is because of the (according to me) superior pacage manager in Arch Linux (pacman). I also agree with you about PAM. Slackware used to lock PAM out based on security, but now PAM is rock solid as well. I'm not sure why they won't include it now. When I ran slackware on my machines, I hacked at least two of them to allow for PAM. I agree with you that this is a major change.
What is Slackware? Really?
I've used Slackware for about five years, and it's getting me confused to whether it's focusing on the server market or the workstation market. It only has thoroughly tested packages, which is good for servers, But why is it even including (an old version of) GNOME, then?
It's a true mystery, but congrats anyway to the GNOME packagers for getting though the shared object hell that often occurs on Slackware systems (IMHO).
Good thinking. I also saw this "nanowire" article. This could also be a feasible solution. I just forgot it while writing my previous comment. If it could power for twenty hours a laptop which now runs for two hours, then we have a solution to battery life issues with a lot of products.
I also read somewhere about a new kind of solar cell which is supposedly twice as effective as previous kinds. Using a nanowire battery as accumulator for such a solar cell, solar powered vehicles could benefit from both inventions and perhaps reach the size of a regular sedan.
First I'd come up with a series of reforms allowing for better public health care. Then I'd ban software patents and force all states to accept an open standard for office documents, preferably ODF. Removal of troops from Iraq and other areas would also rank high on my list.
But I'm only Swedish, so what would I know?
I'm waiting for this invention to reach the public. This could very well be the answer to the environmental issues related to automotive propulsion and the short mileage of electrically propulsed vehicles. Unfortunately this will disappear somewhere within Lockheed Martin and/or some defense department somewhere, or it will get so covered in patents that no one can actually use it, or it will be lobbied to death.
I'm not surprised. Just look at the NetMD example, as many have pointed out. You had to install their (buggy) proprietary software (called NetMD Jukebox iirc) to transfer songs between the computer and the NetMD. Of course, this software ran only on windows. Many attempts to reverse engineer the NetMD protocol and many open letters and petitions to Sony later, the situation hasn't improved.
Sony should embrace open standards like everyone else. I don't see the point of pushing a proprietary protocol. You're not going to gain customers and therefore make money by doing so, but quite the opposite.
I'm not one bit surprised. Apparently EMI is realising that the RIAA's failing to organise the music industry, now that file sharing is more popular than ever. RIAA is simply too old to keep up in this new world of free information exchange and can no longer support itself upon the ageing copyright laws of the present.
At least, that's my theory.
You could rather go to a music store and buy a CD, then convert it to MP3 using ripper software. Perfectly legal if it's for personal use (at least here in Sweden). Additionally, you have the choice to onvert the CD to a lossless format such as FLAC. If downloading DRM-free music requires you to go to town to buy some card, you'd rather buy a CD . About the same price, more possibilities. Or you could just ignore it all and just download torrents or whatever.
It's interesting to see Microsoft's actions here. They seem to think that the best way to handle an Open Source based competitor is to lower the price, but maintain their current proprietary licence. They just can't let go of the sources, because their belief in proprietary software is rock-solid. It's simply unthinkable. Yet, they're just sitting there while LAMP is gradually taking over the market completely. Sure, price is an important factor when deciding upon which software to use, but that's not all. Microsoft is blind to the fact that businesses is settling for OSS competitors not only for its generally lower price, but also for the customisation possibilities and the fact that bugs generally get squished faster within OSS than in its proprietary counterparts. If Microsoft really wants to reclaim market share, they really need to rethink their licencing.
Oh, that guy over there looks slighly annoyed. OMG! Terrorist! *ratatatatata*
Accessibility upgrades are always welcome. I've always been annoyed by the fact that there is almost no standardised accessibility tools under Linux distributions. I usually don't use mainstream distributions, but they should be complimented for their superior accessibility integration relative to less used distributions.
Does this also explain why shoelaces tie themselves into knots while I'm sleeping? I have long suspected my cat, but I guess science has a better explanation...
This is probably one of the reasons I recently went for a MacBook. The salespeople were there to assist and able to answer any question ranging from "Is that a computer?" to "Is the Darwin kernel a microkernel or a monolithic kernel?". There were about eight computers ranging from laptops to high end workstations set up so that interested shoppers could just walk in and check their mail. As for the "cult" atmosphere I can do nothing except agree, but hey, it's Apple.
In Sweden we have laws against publishing personal information of citizens. To publish even the equivalent of the social security number you must have the consent of the citizen in question. Unfortunately within license agreements the paragraph covering consent of publishing of personal information is buried deep within the text.
This shows that Windows just isn't designed to be an OS to use, rather than a piece of software you use to burn your linux install CD:s :)
No seriously, the system registry is the single largest mistake Microsoft has ever made. Files in /etc under *NIX doesn't render your Operating system unusable if they're corrupted.
It would be much easier to just release Flash Player under the GPL. Then people could compile versions for their own architecture/OS. Also it would be taking some of the load from the Adobe development team, in favour of better community support.