At least Apple does one thing right with OSX. One OS, and it's free.
Actually, technically, the optional, not-free "Server Tools" kind of make it sorta, kinda two OSes; but for most use-cases you are correct.
Now watch some smartass AC bash you, like they did me theotherday, for OS X "costing $2000" (because they included the price of a Mac (as if the cost of a non-Mac was somehow "Free")).
Microsoft doesn't have a fucking clue about UI... Not that Apple is (much) better
Oh, I disagree wholeheartedly on that point (and I use both every single day, and have for literally decades).
See This and This and This, and tell me, between Windows and OS X, who rules the small (and smaller) screens, especially as far as the 99.5% of "normal" computer users (and, in the case of Metro, in the case of ALL computer users)?
And you're right. System Preferences (Control Panel) has changed pretty much not-a-whit since OS X 10.0, whereas Windows Control Panel gets a (totally unnecessary) "Facelift" nearly each-and-every OS Release. Seriously, is that REALLY necessary?
And now with the "Modern UI", it's become even MORE of an unwanted Adventure to figure out where things have gone (if they haven't simply been done away with, like so many MS Server Tools)...
This does cover your entire screen; but (unlike Metro), doesn't make you feel "simultaneously both Trapped and Lost" (like I feel every single time I have to admin our MS Server 2012 VM at work), because, unlike Metro, it is just a "swipe" away, to invoke and dismiss.
Seriously, what is the deal with that interface? Is it just the fact that I am using RDC to use the machine? I feel like I am constantly traversing in and out of 3 separate dimensions. One appears to be where your Apps and Taskbar lives, the second is a horrible, flattened version of the Start Menu (sort of); and the other is where the "Desktop-y" things go, and the Logout, and it is occasionally not exactly clear how to traverse the wormhole between these dimensions.
Jeebus! I have been using computers since 1976, and have at least some experience with most GUIs, and I have never seen something as blatantly counterintuitive as the Windows "Modern UI"...
In less than 10 years a full computer running local apps won't be commonplace for "regular people" anymore. You'll likely see them relegated to use by content creators, programmers, and hobbyists like us.
You do realize, of course, just how many times, over how many decades, that exact, same statement has been made, right?
macs are great for grandpa, who has never gone to a commandline in his life.
So, a fully-qualified, Certified Unix system, based on a F/OSS XNU Mach/BSD Core, with one of the best integrations of a "Terminal" app into a GUI OS, "sucks huge gangrenous hyena balls."
Riiiiiight.
So, where is your Precious Linux' Certification? Oh, right...
And yet, it is Mac Users are constantly and universally derided by Anonymous Cowards (only, it seems!) as delusional fanbois???
BTW, I have spent plenty of time at the Command Line of many OSes in my nearly FORTY years as a PAID Embedded Dev.
So, in one sense you are right: At 58 years old, I do consider Macs "great for grandpa."
Now get off my lawn; or that Router you threw over the fence is MINE!
From what I gather here, systemd sounds like it is based on launchd, which Apple developed (I think from scratch), then Open Sourced under the Apache 2.0 License nearly a decade ago, and which OS X has been booting (quite rapidly) on since OS X 10.4 (Tiger), IIRC.
So, if that is the case, that makes it fairly proven technology, given the Millions of OS X systems that are using it.
Not trying to start a platform war inside of a platform update war; just trying to understand, since this sounds like kind of old news (at least to OS X devs) , OS-development-wise.
Actually, statistically speaking, Mac users have a pretty good record overall when it comes to being ethical, with shareware and commercial apps. And before someone wants a citation, I can,t remember where I read that, but I definitely did.
But, we ALL also have read our share of Linux users on these comment-pages that believe that paying for software (and I don't mean FOSS) is something that doesn't apply to them.
You're right about one thing, though: Windows users, by and large, are the hands-down biggest software thieves on the planet!
Let's not be silly. OSX is free if you steal it. More power to you for doing so, but don't pretend that building a 'hackintosh' and running an illegal copy of OSX on it makes OSX free.
Haha! I agree.
However, it is equally stupid to include the price of a Mac (especially a grossly inflated one in the price of OS X, and then pretend that the hardware that Linux runs on has no cost.
You can purchase a perfectly serviceable Mac mini brand new for $600, not the $2000 stated above). I'm pretty sure you can't purchase a similarly-spec'ed, ASSEMBLED, tested, and WARRANTED unit for much less. That argument has been done to death on Slashdot.
...And I didn't even factor in all the actually useful (not crapware or "trial") apps that come with that Mac.
I avoided mentioning building from Darwin, because I don't think you can actually build up something that will actually run OS X apps from it. But I might be wrong about that.
But yes, you are correct. The Darwin Mach/BSD Kernel is Libre...
Free with $2000 purchase, fucktard.
And you can't downgrade.
Moving from Snow Leopard to Lion was my greatest mistake. Up to that point I had been a satisfied, kool-aid drinking, cash-spending Appletard.
1. You missed my comment about Hackintoshes. Plus, real Macs start at just under $1k.
2. Lion, especially when it first came out, was apparently somewhat of a POS. I simply avoided it; because, apparently unlike you, I have enough experience with computers and OSes in general that I never install a new version of anything the minute it comes out.
Everyone is allowed to have a "meh" release once in awhile. Apple actually has a fairly good track record in that regard (MUCH better than Windows, where it is a common joke that you "avoid the even-number releases"). I'm sure Linux is no different.
And please tell me what kept you from re-installing Snow Leopard after a Drive Format? Or, better yet, from that Backup that Apple encouraged you to make (and which you could have done totally automatically if you'd bothered to use Time Machine)? I've personally seen Time Machine start with a completely bare HD and restore EVERYTHING to an EXACTITUDE, all with a couple of Clicks. You could have EASILY "Downgraded" using that method.
Oh, and a quick Google search reveals BUNCHES of Posts on how to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard. You obviously didn't even try...
So, who's the '"tard" now???
On macosX everything is typically in a fat binary.
I don't think that means what you think it means.
"Fat Binaries" are a term that originated back in the days of Apple's first CPU-platform migration (back in the MacOS days). "Fat Binaries" are Applications that have been targeted to install and run on Macs with different CPU Architecture (in the original case, either 68k or PPC, then later in OS X, either PPC or Intel).
They are "Fat" because they actually have the necessary "CPU-specific" code duplicated for the different hardware platforms.
Apple just had a "Launcher" (can't remember the actual name) in the OS that would silently and automagically pick the proper version of the App to load and launch.
However, talking about "Dependencies", OS X (and even the original MacOS) was (and is) VERY nice about not Spraying stuff all over your Drive (like Windows STILL does!!!). That's why, by and large, you can move an Application (which looks like a single Icon, but is in reality just a Folder full of stuff) simply by Dragging it to virtually anywhere on any accessible volume, and Uninstall it by Dragging it to the Trash and clicking "Empty Trash". It will probably leave behind a Preference file of a few Kilobytes; but, compared to excising a Windows App (or apparently a Linux one), it is a beauty thing...
You have absolutely no fucking idea what you are talking about.
Sez the pusillanimous AC.
At least I placed my Karma on the line to state my opinion. (and I notice, in typical immature Slashdot fashion, I'm being downmodded for expressing my opinion.
What did you do to advance the discussion?
And what did you do to explain why I have "absolutely no fucking idea what [I'm] talking about", eh?
What are you, like 12? I am an embedded developer with over 3 decades (almost 4) of PAID experience.
We need a free desktop OS. Linux is the only contender.
Um, OS X is free. Yes, as in Beer.
The Mac App Store doesn't check your s/n, just your AppleID. Plus, you can Torrent pretty much any version of OS X the nanosecond it is released.
And if you're as smart as you think you are, you don't even have to pay the mythical "Apple Tax"; just build up a Hackintosh.
You'll have generally inferior build quality; but you'll still have a nice Unix-y underpinning, AND the ability to actually use apps that the "real world" uses (AND your F/OSS apps Too!)
Or do you have some fantasy that you might need to actually code something yourself in the Linux Kernel?
perhaps you can enlighten us as to why he's wrong, and what the linux kernel has to do to better support desktop environments?
How about "Coalesce into the 'One True Distro(tm)' "? At least for the Desktop.
Seriously. The problem is, there isn't just one "Linux", but rather a plethora of "Linuces".
So, from the (non-Kernel) Developer POV, it's just like the horseshit that goes on in HTML to support multiple browsers.
Until the DESKTOP Linux babies quite thinking they have "THEWay", there will NEVER be significant outside (that is, outside of the Linux-Cult Community) Application Development. Period.
So, if I say that I have evidence that you're using water flowing into your house to make drugs, I guess you're absolutely fine with having that water cut off until you can prove that you're not indeed using it to make drugs. If you are making drugs, I guess you're ok with your family going thirsty even though it's not their crime.
That's why Congress stopped all the "Forfeiture" stuff that didn't require anything more than a "Confidential Informant" pointing a finger.
Now, Forfeiture requires a CONVICTION.
That's why you stopped hearing about it allofasudden about a decade and a half ago. Before that, there were even software packages that showed how Police Departments could Fund themselves through "Forfeiture".
That really stemmed the tide of "[Governmental Entity] v. $50,000, a Corvette, and 2915 Any Street" cases...
Change ISP at first sign of this. Then contest the contract. Then contest the past bill. Let them take it tocollections. Good luck with that. Make it cost the ISP more than the $10-20 that shitheads want. Let the ISP slam the door in there face.
Actually, if you do any "consulting" (think hard!) with your computer, using the internet (as many, many Slashdotters do), or if your job requires you respond to work emails in a timely manner, the MONETARY DAMAGES to you can mount up PRETTY FAST...
Not in civil cases - there's only apreponderence of the evidence. Besides, I'm pretty sure the ToS you agreed to with your ISP would never let you get past a mediator, let alone into a courtroom.
I am also pretty sure that:
1. You can only sign your Constitutional Rights away with a SPECIFIC, KNOWING Statement. Burying something like that on Page 115 of a 130-page Click-Through User Agreement will NOT hold up in Court.
Hmmm. On second thought, I wonder if Rightscorp is trying to circumvent your Right to a Jury Trial by making the sum $10 (rather than $20)?
2. Even if you have to use Mediation against your ISP, you signed no such agreement with Rightscorp, period.
3. See my other posting, above, regarding filing Professional Conduct Grievances against Rightscorp and your ISP's Counsel. NOTHING stops that; and actually, if enough people do it in a particular Jurisdiction (while forwarding a copy of same to the American Bar Association and the Solicitor General and Attorney General of the U.S., as well as your State Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Div, and your local Assistant U.S. Attorney), eventually SOMEONE will come up for air...
But one thing that won't help: Bitching about it on Slashdot (other than perhaps to mobilize others, too)...
That only applies to the legal system. Rightscorp is bypassing the legal system and instead getting the ISPs to do the work of law enforcement, and with no analogue to the court system. Basically there are three private parties, Rightscorp, the ISP, and the ISP's customer, and any of the three is legally allowed to presume the other two parties are guilty bastards without proof. Also any of the three are able to sue if they feel unfairly treated if they think some laws are being broken, and they can countersue if anyone sues them, if they'd rather spend that kind of money doing so.
Well, Alrighty Then! You just stumbled on the solution.
Since (I assume) no agreement exists between Rightscorp and the ISPs, said ISPs can (and should) simply tell Rightscorp to POUND SAND, because they are simply not under any statutory nor contractual obligation to even READ Rightscorp's request; let alone HONOR it.
Bottom line: If Rightscorp wants to take alleged "infringers" to court, they have to do it the "right" way (i.e., through the DMCA).
They simply cannot turn ISPs into Police, Judge and Jury, at least not in the USA.
INAL, but AFIK, even in civil cases, there are still a modicum of Due Process Rights that one has. Yes, I know this isn't in a Court; but I'm about to change that...
Every single alleged infringer needs to file a Small Claims Court case against their ISP and Rightscorp, suing for the statutory maximum (usually $5k to $10k). It only costs about $50 in most jurisdictions, and in most jurisdictions, corporations MUST hire an attorney (there goes a minimum of about $2500 for them).
Better yet, If you file in regular (Superior or Circuit) Court in your Jurisdiction, it costs a little more (usually around $100-200), but then, the Corporation MUST hire an attorney (while you can ALWAYS represent yourself "pro se"). In both cases, your meme is going to be "extortion", due process violations, and "frivolous and vexatious litigation". Also throw the words "professional misconduct" around.
Speaking of which, while you're at it, when they DO retain an attorney, then write up a "Grievance" to their local Licensing Board (often the Supreme Court in the State they are practicing), alleging Professional Misconduct (attorneys cannot advance frivolous claims), and that you have Standing to do so even though it isn't your attorney, because your Grievance is based on the "Proper Administration of Justice" and because every Attorney is an "Officer of the Court" FIRST, and MUST uphold their Jurisdiction's Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (you can find them online on your State's website), EVEN ABOVE their duty to "zealously defend their client".
Even if the Licensing Board doesn't formally start a Professional Conduct procedure against the law firm (which they won't), said law firm/attorney HAS to inform their Malpractice Insurance Carrier of the Grievance, which can cause them to be dropped by their carrier, or at least, pay increased insurance rates. Most states also list on their Roll of Attorneys how many Grievances have been filed against them, which can limit their future business, and possibly affect their local Bar Association's "Rating" for them.
IOW, since they are playing fast and loose with the concept of "Justice", you can play "Hardball" with the tools at your disposal, too. All it takes is a few hours of research and typing.
To quote a great line from "Boston Legal": "I like to put the Adversary back into the Adversarial Process."
Slashdot Mirror
Just get your PC from a reputable OEM.
Its called Dell (just the business/corporate side of the house tho.... BEWARE of Dells obtained at WorstBuy/Costco.....)
Ok, you asked for it:
Here's da facts
At least Apple does one thing right with OSX. One OS, and it's free.
Actually, technically, the optional, not-free "Server Tools" kind of make it sorta, kinda two OSes; but for most use-cases you are correct.
Now watch some smartass AC bash you, like they did me theotherday, for OS X "costing $2000" (because they included the price of a Mac (as if the cost of a non-Mac was somehow "Free")).
But I digress...
The funny thing is, Windows often works better on one than it does on a regular PC, simply because it's crapware-free. :)
...and because it's a Mac. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)
Microsoft doesn't have a fucking clue about UI ... Not that Apple is (much) better
Oh, I disagree wholeheartedly on that point (and I use both every single day, and have for literally decades).
See This and This and This, and tell me, between Windows and OS X, who rules the small (and smaller) screens, especially as far as the 99.5% of "normal" computer users (and, in the case of Metro, in the case of ALL computer users)?
And you're right. System Preferences (Control Panel) has changed pretty much not-a-whit since OS X 10.0, whereas Windows Control Panel gets a (totally unnecessary) "Facelift" nearly each-and-every OS Release. Seriously, is that REALLY necessary?
And now with the "Modern UI", it's become even MORE of an unwanted Adventure to figure out where things have gone (if they haven't simply been done away with, like so many MS Server Tools)...
Just a mini metro which launches from the start button and serves a similar role as the old start menus
Ok you mean something like This?
This does cover your entire screen; but (unlike Metro), doesn't make you feel "simultaneously both Trapped and Lost" (like I feel every single time I have to admin our MS Server 2012 VM at work), because, unlike Metro, it is just a "swipe" away, to invoke and dismiss.
Seriously, what is the deal with that interface? Is it just the fact that I am using RDC to use the machine? I feel like I am constantly traversing in and out of 3 separate dimensions. One appears to be where your Apps and Taskbar lives, the second is a horrible, flattened version of the Start Menu (sort of); and the other is where the "Desktop-y" things go, and the Logout, and it is occasionally not exactly clear how to traverse the wormhole between these dimensions.
Jeebus! I have been using computers since 1976, and have at least some experience with most GUIs, and I have never seen something as blatantly counterintuitive as the Windows "Modern UI"...
In less than 10 years a full computer running local apps won't be commonplace for "regular people" anymore. You'll likely see them relegated to use by content creators, programmers, and hobbyists like us.
You do realize, of course, just how many times, over how many decades, that exact, same statement has been made, right?
Just get your PC from a reputable OEM.
I do. It's called Apple Computer. Ever heard of them?
[Ducks]
macs are great for grandpa, who has never gone to a commandline in his life.
So, a fully-qualified, Certified Unix system, based on a F/OSS XNU Mach/BSD Core, with one of the best integrations of a "Terminal" app into a GUI OS, "sucks huge gangrenous hyena balls."
Riiiiiight.
So, where is your Precious Linux' Certification? Oh, right... And yet, it is Mac Users are constantly and universally derided by Anonymous Cowards (only, it seems!) as delusional fanbois???
BTW, I have spent plenty of time at the Command Line of many OSes in my nearly FORTY years as a PAID Embedded Dev.
So, in one sense you are right: At 58 years old, I do consider Macs "great for grandpa."
Now get off my lawn; or that Router you threw over the fence is MINE!
From what I gather here, systemd sounds like it is based on launchd, which Apple developed (I think from scratch), then Open Sourced under the Apache 2.0 License nearly a decade ago, and which OS X has been booting (quite rapidly) on since OS X 10.4 (Tiger), IIRC.
So, if that is the case, that makes it fairly proven technology, given the Millions of OS X systems that are using it.
Not trying to start a platform war inside of a platform update war; just trying to understand, since this sounds like kind of old news (at least to OS X devs) , OS-development-wise.
Actually, statistically speaking, Mac users have a pretty good record overall when it comes to being ethical, with shareware and commercial apps. And before someone wants a citation, I can,t remember where I read that, but I definitely did.
But, we ALL also have read our share of Linux users on these comment-pages that believe that paying for software (and I don't mean FOSS) is something that doesn't apply to them.
You're right about one thing, though: Windows users, by and large, are the hands-down biggest software thieves on the planet!
Let's not be silly. OSX is free if you steal it. More power to you for doing so, but don't pretend that building a 'hackintosh' and running an illegal copy of OSX on it makes OSX free. Haha! I agree.
...And I didn't even factor in all the actually useful (not crapware or "trial") apps that come with that Mac.
However, it is equally stupid to include the price of a Mac (especially a grossly inflated one in the price of OS X, and then pretend that the hardware that Linux runs on has no cost.
You can purchase a perfectly serviceable Mac mini brand new for $600, not the $2000 stated above). I'm pretty sure you can't purchase a similarly-spec'ed, ASSEMBLED, tested, and WARRANTED unit for much less. That argument has been done to death on Slashdot.
I avoided mentioning building from Darwin, because I don't think you can actually build up something that will actually run OS X apps from it. But I might be wrong about that.
But yes, you are correct. The Darwin Mach/BSD Kernel is Libre...
Free with $2000 purchase, fucktard. And you can't downgrade. Moving from Snow Leopard to Lion was my greatest mistake. Up to that point I had been a satisfied, kool-aid drinking, cash-spending Appletard.
1. You missed my comment about Hackintoshes. Plus, real Macs start at just under $1k.
2. Lion, especially when it first came out, was apparently somewhat of a POS. I simply avoided it; because, apparently unlike you, I have enough experience with computers and OSes in general that I never install a new version of anything the minute it comes out.
Everyone is allowed to have a "meh" release once in awhile. Apple actually has a fairly good track record in that regard (MUCH better than Windows, where it is a common joke that you "avoid the even-number releases"). I'm sure Linux is no different.
And please tell me what kept you from re-installing Snow Leopard after a Drive Format? Or, better yet, from that Backup that Apple encouraged you to make (and which you could have done totally automatically if you'd bothered to use Time Machine)? I've personally seen Time Machine start with a completely bare HD and restore EVERYTHING to an EXACTITUDE, all with a couple of Clicks. You could have EASILY "Downgraded" using that method.
Oh, and a quick Google search reveals BUNCHES of Posts on how to downgrade from Lion to Snow Leopard. You obviously didn't even try... So, who's the '"tard" now???
On macosX everything is typically in a fat binary.
I don't think that means what you think it means.
"Fat Binaries" are a term that originated back in the days of Apple's first CPU-platform migration (back in the MacOS days). "Fat Binaries" are Applications that have been targeted to install and run on Macs with different CPU Architecture (in the original case, either 68k or PPC, then later in OS X, either PPC or Intel).
They are "Fat" because they actually have the necessary "CPU-specific" code duplicated for the different hardware platforms.
Apple just had a "Launcher" (can't remember the actual name) in the OS that would silently and automagically pick the proper version of the App to load and launch.
However, talking about "Dependencies", OS X (and even the original MacOS) was (and is) VERY nice about not Spraying stuff all over your Drive (like Windows STILL does!!!). That's why, by and large, you can move an Application (which looks like a single Icon, but is in reality just a Folder full of stuff) simply by Dragging it to virtually anywhere on any accessible volume, and Uninstall it by Dragging it to the Trash and clicking "Empty Trash". It will probably leave behind a Preference file of a few Kilobytes; but, compared to excising a Windows App (or apparently a Linux one), it is a beauty thing...
You have absolutely no fucking idea what you are talking about.
Sez the pusillanimous AC.
.
At least I placed my Karma on the line to state my opinion . (and I notice, in typical immature Slashdot fashion, I'm being downmodded for expressing my opinion
What did you do to advance the discussion?
And what did you do to explain why I have "absolutely no fucking idea what [I'm] talking about", eh?
What are you, like 12? I am an embedded developer with over 3 decades (almost 4) of PAID experience.
What's your Computer Geek "Street Cred"?
As the GP said though, what does that have to do with Linus and his kernel?
It has to do wth Linus' alleged desire to capture the "Desktop" market, which was the topic of the Article.
Do try to keep up, please!
We need a free desktop OS. Linux is the only contender.
Um, OS X is free. Yes, as in Beer.
The Mac App Store doesn't check your s/n, just your AppleID. Plus, you can Torrent pretty much any version of OS X the nanosecond it is released.
And if you're as smart as you think you are, you don't even have to pay the mythical "Apple Tax"; just build up a Hackintosh.
You'll have generally inferior build quality; but you'll still have a nice Unix-y underpinning, AND the ability to actually use apps that the "real world" uses (AND your F/OSS apps Too!)
Or do you have some fantasy that you might need to actually code something yourself in the Linux Kernel?
perhaps you can enlighten us as to why he's wrong, and what the linux kernel has to do to better support desktop environments?
How about "Coalesce into the 'One True Distro(tm)' "? At least for the Desktop.
Seriously. The problem is, there isn't just one "Linux", but rather a plethora of "Linuces".
So, from the (non-Kernel) Developer POV, it's just like the horseshit that goes on in HTML to support multiple browsers.
Until the DESKTOP Linux babies quite thinking they have "THEWay", there will NEVER be significant outside (that is, outside of the Linux-Cult Community) Application Development. Period.
So, if I say that I have evidence that you're using water flowing into your house to make drugs, I guess you're absolutely fine with having that water cut off until you can prove that you're not indeed using it to make drugs. If you are making drugs, I guess you're ok with your family going thirsty even though it's not their crime.
That's why Congress stopped all the "Forfeiture" stuff that didn't require anything more than a "Confidential Informant" pointing a finger.
Now, Forfeiture requires a CONVICTION.
That's why you stopped hearing about it allofasudden about a decade and a half ago. Before that, there were even software packages that showed how Police Departments could Fund themselves through "Forfeiture".
That really stemmed the tide of "[Governmental Entity] v. $50,000, a Corvette, and 2915 Any Street" cases...
Change ISP at first sign of this. Then contest the contract. Then contest the past bill. Let them take it tocollections. Good luck with that. Make it cost the ISP more than the $10-20 that shitheads want. Let the ISP slam the door in there face.
Actually, if you do any "consulting" (think hard!) with your computer, using the internet (as many, many Slashdotters do), or if your job requires you respond to work emails in a timely manner, the MONETARY DAMAGES to you can mount up PRETTY FAST...
THINK!!!
Not in civil cases - there's only apreponderence of the evidence. Besides, I'm pretty sure the ToS you agreed to with your ISP would never let you get past a mediator, let alone into a courtroom.
I am also pretty sure that:
1. You can only sign your Constitutional Rights away with a SPECIFIC, KNOWING Statement. Burying something like that on Page 115 of a 130-page Click-Through User Agreement will NOT hold up in Court.
Hmmm. On second thought, I wonder if Rightscorp is trying to circumvent your Right to a Jury Trial by making the sum $10 (rather than $20)?
2. Even if you have to use Mediation against your ISP, you signed no such agreement with Rightscorp, period.
3. See my other posting, above, regarding filing Professional Conduct Grievances against Rightscorp and your ISP's Counsel. NOTHING stops that; and actually, if enough people do it in a particular Jurisdiction (while forwarding a copy of same to the American Bar Association and the Solicitor General and Attorney General of the U.S., as well as your State Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Div, and your local Assistant U.S. Attorney), eventually SOMEONE will come up for air...
But one thing that won't help: Bitching about it on Slashdot (other than perhaps to mobilize others, too)...
That only applies to the legal system. Rightscorp is bypassing the legal system and instead getting the ISPs to do the work of law enforcement, and with no analogue to the court system. Basically there are three private parties, Rightscorp, the ISP, and the ISP's customer, and any of the three is legally allowed to presume the other two parties are guilty bastards without proof. Also any of the three are able to sue if they feel unfairly treated if they think some laws are being broken, and they can countersue if anyone sues them, if they'd rather spend that kind of money doing so.
Well, Alrighty Then! You just stumbled on the solution.
Since (I assume) no agreement exists between Rightscorp and the ISPs, said ISPs can (and should) simply tell Rightscorp to POUND SAND, because they are simply not under any statutory nor contractual obligation to even READ Rightscorp's request; let alone HONOR it.
Bottom line: If Rightscorp wants to take alleged "infringers" to court, they have to do it the "right" way (i.e., through the DMCA).
They simply cannot turn ISPs into Police, Judge and Jury, at least not in the USA.
INAL, but AFIK, even in civil cases, there are still a modicum of Due Process Rights that one has. Yes, I know this isn't in a Court; but I'm about to change that...
Every single alleged infringer needs to file a Small Claims Court case against their ISP and Rightscorp, suing for the statutory maximum (usually $5k to $10k). It only costs about $50 in most jurisdictions, and in most jurisdictions, corporations MUST hire an attorney (there goes a minimum of about $2500 for them).
Better yet, If you file in regular (Superior or Circuit) Court in your Jurisdiction, it costs a little more (usually around $100-200), but then, the Corporation MUST hire an attorney (while you can ALWAYS represent yourself "pro se"). In both cases, your meme is going to be "extortion", due process violations, and "frivolous and vexatious litigation". Also throw the words "professional misconduct" around.
Speaking of which, while you're at it, when they DO retain an attorney, then write up a "Grievance" to their local Licensing Board (often the Supreme Court in the State they are practicing), alleging Professional Misconduct (attorneys cannot advance frivolous claims), and that you have Standing to do so even though it isn't your attorney, because your Grievance is based on the "Proper Administration of Justice" and because every Attorney is an "Officer of the Court" FIRST, and MUST uphold their Jurisdiction's Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (you can find them online on your State's website), EVEN ABOVE their duty to "zealously defend their client".
Even if the Licensing Board doesn't formally start a Professional Conduct procedure against the law firm (which they won't), said law firm/attorney HAS to inform their Malpractice Insurance Carrier of the Grievance, which can cause them to be dropped by their carrier, or at least, pay increased insurance rates. Most states also list on their Roll of Attorneys how many Grievances have been filed against them, which can limit their future business, and possibly affect their local Bar Association's "Rating" for them.
IOW, since they are playing fast and loose with the concept of "Justice", you can play "Hardball" with the tools at your disposal, too. All it takes is a few hours of research and typing.
To quote a great line from "Boston Legal": "I like to put the Adversary back into the Adversarial Process."
Then they can simply refer offline to the PDF manual we shipped with the product.
God damn, I miss VersionTracker and all apps being available without dealing with a walled garden.
Here you go, at least for OS X: http://www.macupdate.com/
No.
It's Because I don't have to worry about an App Store App sending my private data to a Server in China.