Greeting From The Secretary General Of The UN
Greetings In 55 Languages
UN Greetings & Whale Greetings
The Sounds Of Earth
J. S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 In F, First Movement
Java, court gamelan - Kinds Of Flowers
Senegal, percussion - Tchenhoukoumen
Zaire - Pygmy Girls' Initiation Song
Australian Aborigine songs - Morning Star And Devil Bird
Mexico - El Cascabel (performed by Lorenzo Barcelata)
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
Papua New Guinea - Men's House Song
Japan, shakuhachi - Cranes In Their Nest (performed by Coro Yamaguchi)
J. S. Bach - Gavotte En Rondeaux, from the Partitia No. 3 In E Minor For
Mozart - The Magic Flute, Queen Of The Night Aria, No. 14
Georgia, chorus - Tchakrulo
Peru - Panpipes And Drum Song
Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven - Melancholy Blues
Azerbaijan Bagpipes - Ugam
Stravinsky - Rite Of Spring, Sacrificial Dance
J. S. Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude And Fugue In C, No. 1
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, First Movement
Bulgaria - Izlel Je Delyo Hagdutin (sung by Valya Balkanska)
United States - Navajo Night Chant
Holborne - Fairie Round, from Paueans, Gaillards, Almains, And Other Short A
Solomon Islands - Melanesian Panpipes
Peru - Wedding Song
China, Ch'in - Flowing Streams (performed by Kuan P'ing-hu)
India, Raga - Jaat Kahan Ho (sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar)
Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 13 In B Flat, Opus 130, Cavatina
...if you're looking for either "Murmurs of Earth" or the CD-ROM, just ask a Swedish website and click on a magnet or two.
If you have access to a web server, there are a number of ways to set something similar up yourself. I've done it at seandiggity.com using WordPress + Aggregator theme + some extra plugins. There are definitely simpler ways, but I like the flexibility of WordPress's widgets.
I used iGoogle years ago, primarily for the RSS feeds. If you have access to a web server, there are a number of ways to set something similar up yourself. I've done it at me.seandiggity.com using WordPress + Aggregator theme + some extra plugins. There are definitely simpler ways, but I like the flexibility of WordPress's widgets.
Although it was obvious the FSF would take this position, as it should, isn't it strategically wise to have multiple solutions for users to load a (mostly) free software OS on hardware with UEFI? For similar reasons, I think it's good to have Android devices running ClockworkMod so that they may boot CyanogenMod/Replicant. I understand that we (free software advocates) should always be encouraging consumers to make smart choices and purchase devices that will run free software (and a complete free software stack, when that's possible).
However, free software would become an "oasis in a desert", rather than a large and thriving ecosystem, if binary blobs, non-free drivers, non-free BIOS's, firmware hacks, etc. weren't around. It would become increasingly difficult to bring in more users. Those who have developed free software implementations to replace proprietary ones originate from all over the free software spectrum, so the pool of developers would also shrink.
I think you always want both: the hardcores who will run free software and free software only, and those who will make compromises on devices until (if/when) stable free software is developed for those devices. The FSFE's advice on installing CyanogenMod seems like a sensible approach that takes this into consideration. Likewise, why not help someone install as much free software as possible on a device with a non-free BIOS/bootloader?
It seems to me that UEFI will die a quick death if we A) fight very vocally against it, B) convince powerful corporations and governments that it's bad for them, C) ignore it where/when we can, and D) help others to circumvent it when necessary. It doesn't seem much different than the DRM problem in that way.
I would be very happy with Canonical's UEFI strategy if the following from this past/. comment can be done:
- Canonical will get efilinux signed with microsoft keys. So GRUB2 has to be made bootable from efillinux (efilinux is rather primitive, it just loads a kernel from a set collection of blocks from the device and run it. It shouldn't be too much difficult to have efilinux load and execute a GRUB2's "stage 1.5" or "stage 2").
Thus efilinux is the part that needs to be signed with microsoft's key (and efilinux's license makes it possible. Although that also means that you won't be able to hack it).
...
- GRUB2 can load coreboot (an opensource firmware) payloads, so it could also load SeaBIOS (a legacy BIOS implementation as a coreboot payload).
- GRUB2 can also load windows XP's boot loader.
So if any of the above is possible (either chainloading efilinux to grub2, or signing grub2 in a gplv3 compatible way). That means that grub2 could be used to boot windows XP on secure-boot hardware. (with seabios providing the legacy bios compatibility, and windows XP's ntldfr being loaded from grub2).
That unfortunately-complex method of chaining together multiple bootloaders seems to allow for any OS, even legacy ones, to boot (or at least attempt to boot) on UEFI hardware. Such a door might be closed if Canonical decides it won't play ball with Microsoft, and that seems like a door worth having open. However, I welcome any rebuttals...I don't know nearly enough about the issue.
They claim the ocean is rising due to increased runoff from human activity, yet it's well known that most of the worlds major rivers are a shadow of their natural self by time they reach the ocean (if they get there at all). Perhaps stormwater drains are taking up the slack, but for the moment I'm left with two credible claims that on the surface appear to directly contradict each other?
It's only contradictory because you've forgotten about aquifers/wells, and seem to underestimate the amount of groundwater the modern industrial world relies upon. TFA specifically mentions groundwater.
Gandalf the Grey + Gandalf the White + Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight + Benito Mussolini + The Blue Meanie + Cowboy Curtis + Jambi the Genie + Robocop + Terminator + Captain Kirk + Darth Vader + Lo Pan + Superman + Every Single Power Ranger + Bill S. Preston + Theodore Logan + Spock + The Rock + Doc Ock + Hulk Hogan < Chuck Norris
Simply not true anymore. That might have been the intent, but that does not work.
Movies are available on release dates (DVD, Blueray) on torrent sites. Same goes for most games (which have the crack ready the next day).
There was a short window a few years ago where I might have agreed with you. However, things are different now...take a look at the effectiveness of Internet policing and takedowns, stronger internal policies by Big Media (more attention paid to who gets DVD screeners, etc.), and a change in social attitudes and purchasing habits by American consumers (I suspect my generation, those born in the 80s, carries a large part of the blame). This has been accompanied by changes in the way that pirated content is spread online...maybe you haven't spent much time on the PirateBay recently, but talk to those who have and they'll tell you the juiciest torrents are moving "underground".
As far as books are concerned, perhaps the largest collections out there were hosted in phpBB-style forums that linked to MegaUpload, RapidShare, etc. and vanished a few months ago.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd very much like to be.
There are already keys that unlock your car from your pocket when you're within a certain radius; phone integration is definitely coming down the pike. If the NFC punters have their way, your phone might even control your driving preferences.
Open Source is not immune to the same kinds of problems, though I grant you I probably should have been checking for the latest compatible libraries.
Whenever I run into a bug like this where something just seems to go *poof*, that's the first thing I check. Learned my lesson a few years ago with an old version of a library and a cranky sysadmin who would just not believe it was the source of the problem. I wrote not one, but *three* workarounds, none of which he was willing to use, then he just updated the library with the latest version and everything worked.
As it turns out, I was using a particularly old version of Apache Commons-Net library (this jar file was from 2005) which had a leap-year bug. It simply would not show me files with modification dates of 2/29.
If this is the bug you're talking about, it appears a bug report was filed, discussed, and a temporary workaround was offered (perhaps more than one). Although free software has bugs just like proprietary software, the way they are reported and handled is night and day.
the GPL is viral by force. When you get something GPL, the output WILL be GPL. It's required.
Apple's form of viral only works by choice (people buying the products, using the authoring tools). You don't have to write an eBook using Apple's tool, it's just that if you do you have a vast audience of people who may purchase it and also probably a better looking eBook.
I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are different approaches to making something viral.
This viral example is silly, I've seen it repeated far too many times, most recently in an old copy of "The Pragmatic Programmer", which is a very sharp book otherwise.
*Every* license that requires you to license a copy of a work in a certain way, if you distribute it, is "viral". Many licenses don't allow you to distribute at all. There's no such thing as "viral by force". The GPL actually allows you to do whatever you want on your own system, completely ignoring the license (making it much freer and less "virus-like" than a proprietary program running on my system that I can't modify legally). It's when you distribute (using more modern terms, "convey") the work that you have to make sure you've got GPL'd source code available (if not readily available, at least by request). Those who choose to license under the AGPL are curtailing unrestricted personal modification, to close the so-called "application service provider loophole". So, if you run an AGPL'd Web service/application, you're required to release the modified source.
At any rate, the comparison you make is non-sequitur: 1. When you modify a GPL'd work and then convey a copy of it, you must license the copy under the GPL (aka follow the terms of the GPL). 2. When you format your own copyrighted work with Apple's tool, you are not allowed to distribute the output of that tool on your own. That version may only be distributed by Apple. The question being discussed is whether or not you've transferred copyright to Apple, which apparently isn't allowed under U.S. law without some signed paperwork.
Dreamhost seems to have a surprisingly participatory workplace, runs on a free software stack, and has an environmentally-friendly setup. I've set up many sites with them and have tried all the other big hosts, and I now recommend only Dreamhost to friends/family/coworkers.
Their support is very responsive, and the occasional technical hiccups with hosting packages are handled quickly and professionally. Although this break-in is a bit scary, it seems like they're playing "better safe than sorry" by resetting the shell/FTP/SFTP passwords. It was an annoyance late last night when I went to do routine maintenance and couldn't get shell access, and I (somewhat comically) kept trying other passwords, thinking for some reason that there was a problem with my keyring. But I was greeted by a very visible message as soon as I logged into the Dreamhost web control panel, took two seconds to reset my pass, and that was that. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
With Linux, on the other hand, I've had to deal with ext2, ResierFS, ext3, ext4, and those are only the popular ones! There are a ton of other specialized filesystems for other features, such as encryption or use on flash memory!
Since ntfs-3g has been stable, we haven't had problems with that filesystem either. In fact, the only thing that worries me about this new filesystem is the upcoming patent threat that will keep a stable driver for Linux years away from being attainable. There are few attempts at bringing FUSE to non-*nix systems, and they're not pretty. But trust me when I say that it would make my life a lot easier...I've given up developing software on Windows systems completely because of crappy support for filesystems, locally and over the network.
2) Wayland - X has way too much overhead and features for low-power mobile devices. Wayland keeps it nice and light.
I think you're exaggerating X11's flaws. My Zaurus ran X11 just fine. It seems to me that decisions not to go with X actually have more to do with control than anything else. In Apple and Google's case, I think there's fear of letting in all those X11 apps out there, and a desire to lock down the interface if desired (Apple probably didn't like the licensing either). In Ubuntu's case, I think the devs just want something more modern to hack on, even if it breaks compatibility, that they won't have to feel accountable to all of Linuxdom for hacking. I'm not happy about the choice, but X11 will be easy enough to install anyway.
It's important to remember that Maemo/MeeGo was basically a Debian system running X. The benefit of this is that you can run a whole host of Debian apps that require X11 with (almost) no trouble, on a mobile device. Some mobile modders install WebOS + X11 for pretty much the same reason. Yes, I know almost all the apps in the big repos weren't developed for mobile, but I'm sure you can "get the job done" with many of them.
A stable ARM build of Ubuntu, aimed at tablets, smartphones, etc., is a big win for freedom; I was rooting for Maemo to really catch on, and now maybe Ubuntu can become that "3rd mobile OS without Google/Apple restriction". Think of the number of apps that will suddenly become available on these devices that won't run on Android! When developers of these programs have a reason to target mobile platforms, I'm sure the look and feel will become more "mobile".
Right now, I'm working on a fork of a program that requires the hildon libraries, but otherwise runs and looks fine on a desktop computer running Debian. I'd love to be able to bring it to mobile devices, but right now I have to say, "Well it runs on MeeGo but that's basically dead." Building for Android/Cyanogenmod is a hassle I'd like to avoid, and will require a ton of effort given the nature of the program.
That's just science at work, and every theory has it's "difficulties" answering all of our questions. The fact that this particular wiki article has a "Difficulties" section doesn't disprove the scientific merit of the giant impact theory, it proves that the wiki writer tried to give a complete picture and wanted to list some of the interesting questions still out there. Simply put, the giant impact hypothesis has no rival that provides as many self consistent lines of reasoning right now.
Slashdot Mirror
Greeting From The Secretary General Of The UN
...if you're looking for either "Murmurs of Earth" or the CD-ROM, just ask a Swedish website and click on a magnet or two.
Greetings In 55 Languages
UN Greetings & Whale Greetings
The Sounds Of Earth
J. S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 In F, First Movement
Java, court gamelan - Kinds Of Flowers
Senegal, percussion - Tchenhoukoumen
Zaire - Pygmy Girls' Initiation Song
Australian Aborigine songs - Morning Star And Devil Bird
Mexico - El Cascabel (performed by Lorenzo Barcelata)
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
Papua New Guinea - Men's House Song
Japan, shakuhachi - Cranes In Their Nest (performed by Coro Yamaguchi)
J. S. Bach - Gavotte En Rondeaux, from the Partitia No. 3 In E Minor For
Mozart - The Magic Flute, Queen Of The Night Aria, No. 14
Georgia, chorus - Tchakrulo
Peru - Panpipes And Drum Song
Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven - Melancholy Blues
Azerbaijan Bagpipes - Ugam
Stravinsky - Rite Of Spring, Sacrificial Dance
J. S. Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude And Fugue In C, No. 1
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 In C Minor, First Movement
Bulgaria - Izlel Je Delyo Hagdutin (sung by Valya Balkanska)
United States - Navajo Night Chant
Holborne - Fairie Round, from Paueans, Gaillards, Almains, And Other Short A
Solomon Islands - Melanesian Panpipes
Peru - Wedding Song
China, Ch'in - Flowing Streams (performed by Kuan P'ing-hu)
India, Raga - Jaat Kahan Ho (sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar)
Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 13 In B Flat, Opus 130, Cavatina
If you have access to a web server, there are a number of ways to set something similar up yourself. I've done it at seandiggity.com using WordPress + Aggregator theme + some extra plugins. There are definitely simpler ways, but I like the flexibility of WordPress's widgets.
I used iGoogle years ago, primarily for the RSS feeds. If you have access to a web server, there are a number of ways to set something similar up yourself. I've done it at me.seandiggity.com using WordPress + Aggregator theme + some extra plugins. There are definitely simpler ways, but I like the flexibility of WordPress's widgets.
Although it was obvious the FSF would take this position, as it should, isn't it strategically wise to have multiple solutions for users to load a (mostly) free software OS on hardware with UEFI? For similar reasons, I think it's good to have Android devices running ClockworkMod so that they may boot CyanogenMod/Replicant. I understand that we (free software advocates) should always be encouraging consumers to make smart choices and purchase devices that will run free software (and a complete free software stack, when that's possible).
However, free software would become an "oasis in a desert", rather than a large and thriving ecosystem, if binary blobs, non-free drivers, non-free BIOS's, firmware hacks, etc. weren't around. It would become increasingly difficult to bring in more users. Those who have developed free software implementations to replace proprietary ones originate from all over the free software spectrum, so the pool of developers would also shrink.
I think you always want both: the hardcores who will run free software and free software only, and those who will make compromises on devices until (if/when) stable free software is developed for those devices. The FSFE's advice on installing CyanogenMod seems like a sensible approach that takes this into consideration. Likewise, why not help someone install as much free software as possible on a device with a non-free BIOS/bootloader?
It seems to me that UEFI will die a quick death if we A) fight very vocally against it, B) convince powerful corporations and governments that it's bad for them, C) ignore it where/when we can, and D) help others to circumvent it when necessary. It doesn't seem much different than the DRM problem in that way.
I would be very happy with Canonical's UEFI strategy if the following from this past /. comment can be done:
- Canonical will get efilinux signed with microsoft keys. So GRUB2 has to be made bootable from efillinux (efilinux is rather primitive, it just loads a kernel from a set collection of blocks from the device and run it. It shouldn't be too much difficult to have efilinux load and execute a GRUB2's "stage 1.5" or "stage 2"). Thus efilinux is the part that needs to be signed with microsoft's key (and efilinux's license makes it possible. Although that also means that you won't be able to hack it).
...
- GRUB2 can load coreboot (an opensource firmware) payloads, so it could also load SeaBIOS (a legacy BIOS implementation as a coreboot payload). - GRUB2 can also load windows XP's boot loader. So if any of the above is possible (either chainloading efilinux to grub2, or signing grub2 in a gplv3 compatible way). That means that grub2 could be used to boot windows XP on secure-boot hardware. (with seabios providing the legacy bios compatibility, and windows XP's ntldfr being loaded from grub2).
That unfortunately-complex method of chaining together multiple bootloaders seems to allow for any OS, even legacy ones, to boot (or at least attempt to boot) on UEFI hardware. Such a door might be closed if Canonical decides it won't play ball with Microsoft, and that seems like a door worth having open. However, I welcome any rebuttals...I don't know nearly enough about the issue.
They claim the ocean is rising due to increased runoff from human activity, yet it's well known that most of the worlds major rivers are a shadow of their natural self by time they reach the ocean (if they get there at all). Perhaps stormwater drains are taking up the slack, but for the moment I'm left with two credible claims that on the surface appear to directly contradict each other?
It's only contradictory because you've forgotten about aquifers/wells, and seem to underestimate the amount of groundwater the modern industrial world relies upon. TFA specifically mentions groundwater.
Gandalf the Grey + Gandalf the White + Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight + Benito Mussolini + The Blue Meanie + Cowboy Curtis + Jambi the Genie + Robocop + Terminator + Captain Kirk + Darth Vader + Lo Pan + Superman + Every Single Power Ranger + Bill S. Preston + Theodore Logan + Spock + The Rock + Doc Ock + Hulk Hogan < Chuck Norris
TFTFY
Simply not true anymore. That might have been the intent, but that does not work.
Movies are available on release dates (DVD, Blueray) on torrent sites. Same goes for most games (which have the crack ready the next day).
There was a short window a few years ago where I might have agreed with you. However, things are different now...take a look at the effectiveness of Internet policing and takedowns, stronger internal policies by Big Media (more attention paid to who gets DVD screeners, etc.), and a change in social attitudes and purchasing habits by American consumers (I suspect my generation, those born in the 80s, carries a large part of the blame). This has been accompanied by changes in the way that pirated content is spread online...maybe you haven't spent much time on the PirateBay recently, but talk to those who have and they'll tell you the juiciest torrents are moving "underground".
As far as books are concerned, perhaps the largest collections out there were hosted in phpBB-style forums that linked to MegaUpload, RapidShare, etc. and vanished a few months ago.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'd very much like to be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Aircraft_Released_Into_Space
Thought this was going to be about a *Springsteen* concert tour.
TFTFY. The headline was "BOSS" :P
It sounds too much like something Dunder Mifflin would do.
i just looked and saw one fly past the *space needle*
TFTFY
Whats next... iPhone car keys?
There are already keys that unlock your car from your pocket when you're within a certain radius; phone integration is definitely coming down the pike. If the NFC punters have their way, your phone might even control your driving preferences.
Open Source is not immune to the same kinds of problems, though I grant you I probably should have been checking for the latest compatible libraries.
Whenever I run into a bug like this where something just seems to go *poof*, that's the first thing I check. Learned my lesson a few years ago with an old version of a library and a cranky sysadmin who would just not believe it was the source of the problem. I wrote not one, but *three* workarounds, none of which he was willing to use, then he just updated the library with the latest version and everything worked.
As it turns out, I was using a particularly old version of Apache Commons-Net library (this jar file was from 2005) which had a leap-year bug. It simply would not show me files with modification dates of 2/29.
If this is the bug you're talking about, it appears a bug report was filed, discussed, and a temporary workaround was offered (perhaps more than one). Although free software has bugs just like proprietary software, the way they are reported and handled is night and day.
And Yoda who uses "anime action hero FUCK PHYSICS" style.
Let's not forget this droid-wannabe. He could, uh, spin his lightsaber "collection" really fast...
Oblig. Plinkett.
Oh wait, not only was he filthy rich, he also put his name on the work of his students, thus pirating his own students.
That's the bedrock of the current patent and copyright systems. Substitute "students" with "employees" and "artists"...
the GPL is viral by force. When you get something GPL, the output WILL be GPL. It's required.
Apple's form of viral only works by choice (people buying the products, using the authoring tools). You don't have to write an eBook using Apple's tool, it's just that if you do you have a vast audience of people who may purchase it and also probably a better looking eBook.
I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are different approaches to making something viral.
This viral example is silly, I've seen it repeated far too many times, most recently in an old copy of "The Pragmatic Programmer", which is a very sharp book otherwise.
*Every* license that requires you to license a copy of a work in a certain way, if you distribute it, is "viral". Many licenses don't allow you to distribute at all. There's no such thing as "viral by force". The GPL actually allows you to do whatever you want on your own system, completely ignoring the license (making it much freer and less "virus-like" than a proprietary program running on my system that I can't modify legally). It's when you distribute (using more modern terms, "convey") the work that you have to make sure you've got GPL'd source code available (if not readily available, at least by request). Those who choose to license under the AGPL are curtailing unrestricted personal modification, to close the so-called "application service provider loophole". So, if you run an AGPL'd Web service/application, you're required to release the modified source.
At any rate, the comparison you make is non-sequitur:
1. When you modify a GPL'd work and then convey a copy of it, you must license the copy under the GPL (aka follow the terms of the GPL).
2. When you format your own copyrighted work with Apple's tool, you are not allowed to distribute the output of that tool on your own. That version may only be distributed by Apple. The question being discussed is whether or not you've transferred copyright to Apple, which apparently isn't allowed under U.S. law without some signed paperwork.
I want to download a car!
Please explain that process with a car analogy.
Dreamhost seems to have a surprisingly participatory workplace, runs on a free software stack, and has an environmentally-friendly setup. I've set up many sites with them and have tried all the other big hosts, and I now recommend only Dreamhost to friends/family/coworkers.
Their support is very responsive, and the occasional technical hiccups with hosting packages are handled quickly and professionally. Although this break-in is a bit scary, it seems like they're playing "better safe than sorry" by resetting the shell/FTP/SFTP passwords. It was an annoyance late last night when I went to do routine maintenance and couldn't get shell access, and I (somewhat comically) kept trying other passwords, thinking for some reason that there was a problem with my keyring. But I was greeted by a very visible message as soon as I logged into the Dreamhost web control panel, took two seconds to reset my pass, and that was that. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
With Linux, on the other hand, I've had to deal with ext2, ResierFS, ext3, ext4, and those are only the popular ones! There are a ton of other specialized filesystems for other features, such as encryption or use on flash memory!
We Linux users have great kernel support for tons of filesystems, and a userspace daemon that makes working with them quite easy and transparent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_in_Userspace
Since ntfs-3g has been stable, we haven't had problems with that filesystem either. In fact, the only thing that worries me about this new filesystem is the upcoming patent threat that will keep a stable driver for Linux years away from being attainable. There are few attempts at bringing FUSE to non-*nix systems, and they're not pretty. But trust me when I say that it would make my life a lot easier...I've given up developing software on Windows systems completely because of crappy support for filesystems, locally and over the network.
2) Wayland - X has way too much overhead and features for low-power mobile devices. Wayland keeps it nice and light.
I think you're exaggerating X11's flaws. My Zaurus ran X11 just fine. It seems to me that decisions not to go with X actually have more to do with control than anything else. In Apple and Google's case, I think there's fear of letting in all those X11 apps out there, and a desire to lock down the interface if desired (Apple probably didn't like the licensing either). In Ubuntu's case, I think the devs just want something more modern to hack on, even if it breaks compatibility, that they won't have to feel accountable to all of Linuxdom for hacking. I'm not happy about the choice, but X11 will be easy enough to install anyway.
It's important to remember that Maemo/MeeGo was basically a Debian system running X. The benefit of this is that you can run a whole host of Debian apps that require X11 with (almost) no trouble, on a mobile device. Some mobile modders install WebOS + X11 for pretty much the same reason. Yes, I know almost all the apps in the big repos weren't developed for mobile, but I'm sure you can "get the job done" with many of them.
A stable ARM build of Ubuntu, aimed at tablets, smartphones, etc., is a big win for freedom; I was rooting for Maemo to really catch on, and now maybe Ubuntu can become that "3rd mobile OS without Google/Apple restriction". Think of the number of apps that will suddenly become available on these devices that won't run on Android! When developers of these programs have a reason to target mobile platforms, I'm sure the look and feel will become more "mobile".
Right now, I'm working on a fork of a program that requires the hildon libraries, but otherwise runs and looks fine on a desktop computer running Debian. I'd love to be able to bring it to mobile devices, but right now I have to say, "Well it runs on MeeGo but that's basically dead." Building for Android/Cyanogenmod is a hassle I'd like to avoid, and will require a ton of effort given the nature of the program.
...this innovative use of technology gives me hope. I haven't been able to find Whalers in Hartford for years.
He is believed to be the sole author of the Windows Vista operating system.
Well, that explains UAC.
That's just science at work, and every theory has it's "difficulties" answering all of our questions. The fact that this particular wiki article has a "Difficulties" section doesn't disprove the scientific merit of the giant impact theory, it proves that the wiki writer tried to give a complete picture and wanted to list some of the interesting questions still out there. Simply put, the giant impact hypothesis has no rival that provides as many self consistent lines of reasoning right now.
I know that's just science at work and it's still the dominant theory, I don't have anything personal against it :P If you've been paying attention recently, however, you've no doubt noticed the mounting problems with the standard scenario. Even here at slashdot it's been discussed:
http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/03/1824202/earth-may-once-have-had-two-moons
http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/08/17/2247255/moon-younger-than-previously-thought ...things like this are why I said "jury's still out". Some theories are more robust than others; I wouldn't say that about special or general relativity, for example.
Didn't the Earth get hit by another planet, causing it to shoot a ton of crust into orbit..creating the moon?
Clearly, life requires a mars-sized object to hit the planet where life wants to form.
Jury's still out on that one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Formation#Difficulties