Well, I forgot to include LGPL. The problem with the BSD, public domain, and X consortium licenses is that it's free for anyone to make a proprietary product out of them. Mind you, I also use proprietary products, but the true dream would be a compeletely GNU (L)GPL'ed system being widely used. It's the ultamite programmer's dream - all the source you could want!
BTW, I wonder how hard it would be to make a GNU Display Ghostscript server that uses/dev/fb0, to incorporate the work of the GNUStep project. Hmm...
This blurb was taken from KNews: KMail Security....Lessons from ILUVYOU? -- There was some discussion on the kde-devel mailing list about KMail's security. As it looks KMail is far more secure than most of its counterparts. The testing and discussions continue.....
Not everyone thinks the same way as the usual/. crowd about these technologies. I happen to believe that Microsoft had (I'm not going to argue over whether they thought of them first) quite a few good ideas about integration of components, COM, ActiveX, scripting, but horribly botched the implementation (as always).
What the KDE project is the vision of a true integrated desktop in a clean, non-bloated implementation. I've run KDE1.89 and 1.9, as well as from CVS on a variety of systems, and it never seemed slow or bloated. Instead, it was clean and easy to use. I enjoyed using it because of the integration, unlike Windows where I hate using it because of the botched implementation.
To put it simply, KDE2.0 is the ideas of integration and usability done right. It's a different beast than KDE1.1. KDE2.0 is actually more usable than windows, and easier to program, while implementing the ideas that Microsoft used.
Personally the system I'd like to see happen would be a system composed entirely of GNU GPL'ed software. Given that that's not going to happen soon (think - replacing X) we can do the best we can by removing the most offenders.
IANADD (I Am Not A Debian Developer, just a Free Software Advocate)
I've noticed several wrong impressions of KDE2.0 here. First of all, throw out all notions of KDE1.1 and whatever you think of it. Secondly, go download Konfucious (the 1.9 beta) from the KDE site. Here's what's different:
QT2.1x is a different beast than QT1.x or even QT2.0. It's faster, more stable, and less ugly. The theming support is great. It's just a more capable toolkit.
KDE is now structured differently. There is no more kpanel (RIP). It's been replaced with kicker. There is no more kfm. Half of its functionality was inhereited by kdesktop (which puts icons on the desktop and sets the background), and the other half by konqueror.
Konqueror is not just a file manager. It's a file viewer, as well as a file viewer for the network. The combination of these two functionalities means that it's also a web browser, but it does other cool things like embed a KOffice part to be a KOffice file viewer.
KDE is no longer just a library that you need to run. While there are kde libraries, there is also a dcop server that handles interconnections between programs. Running a KDE2.0 program requires you to have an active instance of the dcop server, or else the application will bomb.
The KParts technology is a beautiful thing. While it may be superficially similar to M$ technology, in reality it's much more cleaner and useful. Microsoft's technology starts to look like a horrible kludge compared to the elegance of KDE2.0. KDE2.0 also implements enough of the M$-like ideas (KOM, etc.) that major commercial ports of traditionally windows-centric applications (e.g. project Kylix) can start to happen.
KDE2.0 does not look anything like KDE1.1. KDE1.1 may have looked like the illegitimate offspring of CDE and Win 9x, but KDE2.0 has an elagance of its own, particuarly with the System theme, though you can theme it any way you want.
Best of all, it's modular, so you can replace any single component with another and have it work fine.
Actually, no. KDE2.0 is tied to dcop, and you need to run the dcop server before you can run any KDE2.0 application. It's quite a change from KDE1.x, but it improves the integration of the desktop. (It's sort of hard to have apps working together without a glue application, don't you think?)
KDE doesn't tie you to a specific window manager. Early versions of KDE2.0 (around KRASH) simply called KDE support "we'll make a big window, title it the Desktop, and you know not to put a border around it." I believe the support has gotten better for window hints, etc., but you can still run an outside window manager. You just won't get full hints - like running another window manger (such as fvwm) and GNOME.
It's not the license, but the privacy agreement. Sorry if I'm confusing you. When I go to mp3.com, I automatically agree to their "privacy agreement", whereby I void all of my privacy rights - by an agreement I haven't read!
It's not the license, but the privacy agreement. Sorry if I'm confusing you. When I go to mp3.com, I automatically agree to their "privacy agreement", whereby I void all of my privacy rights - by an agreement I haven't read!
The problem is that by stepping onto MP3.com's site, I am automagically agreeing to their agreement, because they have already started collecting my IP, adding cookies, targeting ads, etc - all of which I voided my privacy rights for because of some agreement I never saw! No acutal site is going to use a safe zone - they're going to target, and track from the moment I set foot on their site.
[prediction] In a little while, there'll be a new law/addendum to UCITA that makes these step-on-agreements valid. [/prediction]
Ok - apparently I haven't heard of that clause in the UTICA (which/whose UTICA, anyway?). The idea is bad enough in itself - they never barred me from using the product unless I agree to the license - it's simply that I'm using, therefore I agree. What if I want to print out the license and discuss it with my lawyer? What's a reasonable amount of time? It's all relative, and depending on how much M$/other software vendor pays their lawyers, they could get the courts to get me.
I wasn't exactly pointing at Red Hat - sorry for the implication. I was more pointing at Storm, Corel, SuSE (the worst offender - an entire CD of non-free demoware!). Red Hat has made great strides (such as the removal of xv - I'll download that if I want it!), and I use Red Hat as a primary distro.
I also find Mozilla to be more stable than Netscape, but I guess I'm one of those people with problems with Netscape. (nnng - must destroy java banner ads!)
What bothers me are the licenses that I agree to without being able to read them - that is, they say I agreed to the license, but I never even saw it! Quote from MP3.com's license:
By using our Web site, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information by MP3.com as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
But I never read the agreement!
I also don't have a copy with me, but on the Microsoft Y2K update cdrom's that they mailed out (I don't know what you have to do to get on that list) the wrapper of the cdrom said that by using the cdrom, I agreed to the terms and conditions of the license agreement, stored on the cdrom! These are clearly catch-22 situations, and oughta be illegal - except for UCITA, which makes them binding.
I think jed also does pico emulation. But an export EDITOR="nano" or "jed", and using elm wouldn't be so hard for most people. See? It's easy to replace the non-free stuff with replacements.
Of course removing non-free from Debian is a goal. What's the point of the Free Software revolution otherwise? The good thing about Debian is that it's not just an Open Source distro, it also works on behalf of Free Software. Eventually, we will replace non-free software on all systems with free software, right?
For netscape there's Mozilla
For pine, well, use another email client.
For JDK, there's kaffe (it's coming along nicely)
For Motif, there's Lesstif
One of the things that seperates Debian from the other distros is that it's dedicated to having Open Source software, unlike commercial distros which have no fear of packaging non-free software.
BeDope's humorous take on the situation perhaps accurately best describes what will happen. The BeDope outlook is that the company will be seperated in half with a long strip of masking tape that no employee will be allowed to cross, and that half the shareholders write in another name on the stock certificate. I don't think it'll amount to much more than this, anyway (even if BeDOpe is being sarcastic).
To decide what makes it into a release/what designates a release, here's how I would do it (which is how most projects work):
There is a three-tiered numbering system, X.Y.Z, where X is the major release number (and indicates large changes in the software), Y is the minor release number (and whose evenness/oddness determines whether this is a stable release or a development release, respectively.) If you're on an even branch, the Z number represents a patch level or a bug fix level. Only features that affect bug fixes are added between Z numbers in stable releases. If you're on an odd branch, Z numbers represent many bug fixes and feature enhancements or additions.
Once the development branch has enough features, a "freeze" is put in place that prevents adding of new features. During this time the release may be called X.Y++.0pre1, or X.Y++.0test1, or a X.Y.99pre1. When the "freeze" is complete, features are migrated into a X.Y++.0 release. No new features (unless they are bug-affecting) are added until the next even release.
Usually projects have one-or-more releasemeisters who manage when releases happen. For the kernel it's Linus, or in his absence Alan Cox.
Hmm. Have you been to copyleft? I wear shirts with copyleft logos, shirts with penguin logos, shirts with DeCSS printed on them. I'm a walking billboard - I just choose what I advertise.
Nike's response letter left me feeling like they just aquired MicroSoft's marketing department. Where the author of this book draws attention to labor used in China and Pakistan, Nike points out that they also use labor in Tiwan and South Korea. Let's look at what they're doing here:
They're drawing attention away from their labor which exists in China, etc. No amount of "we also use labor in more humanitarian countries" will change that. Simarly, Microsoft draws attention away from its wrongdoings by pointing at it's "benifit" to the market.
Nike claims that they swallow the higher costs of not using child labor, operating in Tiwan and South Korea, etc. Now let's say that those higher costs come from facilities that make, say a genrous 40% of Nike's items, and that the average is 10% higher cost (their number). The other 60% is performed with cheap Chineese/Pakastani/etc. labor. Their costs only raised 4% then, thus diluting the affect of the higher cost of operating in those facilities.
The affect is that Nike is pulling the wool over our eyes with cheap marketing tactics reminiscent of Microsoft. Their argumens hold no ground except in marketing value, and appeasing the people gullable enough to support any big corporation in the first place.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I forgot to include LGPL. The problem with the BSD, public domain, and X consortium licenses is that it's free for anyone to make a proprietary product out of them. Mind you, I also use proprietary products, but the true dream would be a compeletely GNU (L)GPL'ed system being widely used. It's the ultamite programmer's dream - all the source you could want!
/dev/fb0, to incorporate the work of the GNUStep project. Hmm...
BTW, I wonder how hard it would be to make a GNU Display Ghostscript server that uses
Ok - I'm a bit out of date on this, and mostly I was trying to run konqueror, which defenitely needs the dcopserver.
This blurb was taken from KNews:
KMail Security....Lessons from ILUVYOU? -- There was some discussion on the kde-devel mailing list about KMail's security. As it looks KMail is far more secure than most of its counterparts. The testing and discussions continue.....
Not everyone thinks the same way as the usual
What the KDE project is the vision of a true integrated desktop in a clean, non-bloated implementation. I've run KDE1.89 and 1.9, as well as from CVS on a variety of systems, and it never seemed slow or bloated. Instead, it was clean and easy to use. I enjoyed using it because of the integration, unlike Windows where I hate using it because of the botched implementation.
To put it simply, KDE2.0 is the ideas of integration and usability done right. It's a different beast than KDE1.1. KDE2.0 is actually more usable than windows, and easier to program, while implementing the ideas that Microsoft used.
IANADD (I Am Not A Debian Developer, just a Free Software Advocate)
Actually, no. KDE2.0 is tied to dcop, and you need to run the dcop server before you can run any KDE2.0 application. It's quite a change from KDE1.x, but it improves the integration of the desktop. (It's sort of hard to have apps working together without a glue application, don't you think?)
KDE doesn't tie you to a specific window manager. Early versions of KDE2.0 (around KRASH) simply called KDE support "we'll make a big window, title it the Desktop, and you know not to put a border around it." I believe the support has gotten better for window hints, etc., but you can still run an outside window manager. You just won't get full hints - like running another window manger (such as fvwm) and GNOME.
It's not the license, but the privacy agreement. Sorry if I'm confusing you. When I go to mp3.com, I automatically agree to their "privacy agreement", whereby I void all of my privacy rights - by an agreement I haven't read!
It's not the license, but the privacy agreement. Sorry if I'm confusing you. When I go to mp3.com, I automatically agree to their "privacy agreement", whereby I void all of my privacy rights - by an agreement I haven't read!
[prediction] In a little while, there'll be a new law/addendum to UCITA that makes these step-on-agreements valid. [/prediction]
Ok - apparently I haven't heard of that clause in the UTICA (which/whose UTICA, anyway?). The idea is bad enough in itself - they never barred me from using the product unless I agree to the license - it's simply that I'm using, therefore I agree. What if I want to print out the license and discuss it with my lawyer? What's a reasonable amount of time? It's all relative, and depending on how much M$/other software vendor pays their lawyers, they could get the courts to get me.
I also find Mozilla to be more stable than Netscape, but I guess I'm one of those people with problems with Netscape. (nnng - must destroy java banner ads!)
By using our Web site, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information by MP3.com as outlined in this Privacy Policy.
But I never read the agreement!
I also don't have a copy with me, but on the Microsoft Y2K update cdrom's that they mailed out (I don't know what you have to do to get on that list) the wrapper of the cdrom said that by using the cdrom, I agreed to the terms and conditions of the license agreement, stored on the cdrom! These are clearly catch-22 situations, and oughta be illegal - except for UCITA, which makes them binding.
I think jed also does pico emulation. But an export EDITOR="nano" or "jed", and using elm wouldn't be so hard for most people. See? It's easy to replace the non-free stuff with replacements.
- For netscape there's Mozilla
- For pine, well, use another email client.
- For JDK, there's kaffe (it's coming along nicely)
- For Motif, there's Lesstif
One of the things that seperates Debian from the other distros is that it's dedicated to having Open Source software, unlike commercial distros which have no fear of packaging non-free software.BeDope's humorous take on the situation perhaps accurately best describes what will happen. The BeDope outlook is that the company will be seperated in half with a long strip of masking tape that no employee will be allowed to cross, and that half the shareholders write in another name on the stock certificate. I don't think it'll amount to much more than this, anyway (even if BeDOpe is being sarcastic).
I enjoy using T-Shirts for walking billboards. It's a lot of fun, esp. to spread GNU/Linux ideas.
IESS in Northbrook?
There is a three-tiered numbering system, X.Y.Z, where X is the major release number (and indicates large changes in the software), Y is the minor release number (and whose evenness/oddness determines whether this is a stable release or a development release, respectively.) If you're on an even branch, the Z number represents a patch level or a bug fix level. Only features that affect bug fixes are added between Z numbers in stable releases. If you're on an odd branch, Z numbers represent many bug fixes and feature enhancements or additions.
Once the development branch has enough features, a "freeze" is put in place that prevents adding of new features. During this time the release may be called X.Y++.0pre1, or X.Y++.0test1, or a X.Y.99pre1. When the "freeze" is complete, features are migrated into a X.Y++.0 release. No new features (unless they are bug-affecting) are added until the next even release.
Usually projects have one-or-more releasemeisters who manage when releases happen. For the kernel it's Linus, or in his absence Alan Cox.
And don't forget: Use the source, luke!
There's a print ad in today's Chicago Tribune. One would suppose they got that right.
Moby's Play is definitely in. I agree about those VW New Bugs - what is that, Acid Reflux Yellow?
Hmm. Have you been to copyleft? I wear shirts with copyleft logos, shirts with penguin logos, shirts with DeCSS printed on them. I'm a walking billboard - I just choose what I advertise.
- They're drawing attention away from their labor which exists in China, etc. No amount of "we also use labor in more humanitarian countries" will change that. Simarly, Microsoft draws attention away from its wrongdoings by pointing at it's "benifit" to the market.
- Nike claims that they swallow the higher costs of not using child labor, operating in Tiwan and South Korea, etc. Now let's say that those higher costs come from facilities that make, say a genrous 40% of Nike's items, and that the average is 10% higher cost (their number). The other 60% is performed with cheap Chineese/Pakastani/etc. labor. Their costs only raised 4% then, thus diluting the affect of the higher cost of operating in those facilities.
The affect is that Nike is pulling the wool over our eyes with cheap marketing tactics reminiscent of Microsoft. Their argumens hold no ground except in marketing value, and appeasing the people gullable enough to support any big corporation in the first place.Apparently the G4's are in such short supply that they couldn't even get one for this.
Groan.....