Dude, this is Slashdot, remember? I can practically guarantee the grandparent hasn't used any version of Windows newer than Windows ME.
All the criticisms of Windows on this site are either factually incorrect, or apply only to ancient versions. (Oh, and you're not allowed to criticize ancient versions of Linux, just so you're aware.)
Feh. I have a ton of data from high school still available (well, kind of, they are old Mac OS.SIT compressed files, and I don't have any OSes right now that would understand their resource forks) using a slightly different tactic:
Back up your damned data!
I'm 29, BTW. The oldest file I have is a game I made in 1997, in Think C 5.0 IIRC.
What I'm saying is that by decreeing that their driver works with the card, and it actually doesn't work with the card, that's a huge waste of my time and effort. It's a negative cost for me; not only do I still have a non-working card, but now I've lost tons of hours trying to debug their driver which doesn't work.
I have nothing against volunteers, I just want them to be honest with me.
If you're not trolling and you're genuinely trying to get other people to do work you want done, you should consider asking people more nicely. Honey attracts more flies than vinegar, as the old saying goes.
I'm trying to make a point.
The point is this: I respect people who ACTUALLY GO OUT AND BUILD THINGS instead of just yammering all the time.
Actual products = respect.
Telling us that actual products suck when you have nothing of your own = no respect.
I really couldn't care less if you actually go out and build something or not, I'm just saying that if RMS was really such a "visionary", he'd already have it ready to do because he'd be anticipating the customer need for it. But he didn't, and he has nothing to offer except insulting people who *did* meet the need.
Re:FLOSS lets you control your destiny.
on
GIMP 2.6 Released
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· Score: 1
Paying someone to write a Gantt chart program would undoubtedly be much more expensive than just buying Microsoft Project. No efficiency gained there. I don't give a crap about the philosophy of open source, so I'd much rather just use something else and get my job done.
The Hauppauge card was more a case of the IVTV developers lying to me. Don't tell me your driver supports that model of card if it doesn't.
Because MDI interfaces are an obscenity before god, and implementing one should be a corporal offense. Let window management be handled by the window manager.
Or they could just rip-off other (better) applications like Paint.NET that have the best of both worlds, and which would shut up all those complainers in one fell swoop.
Why don't they? Two possibilities: 1) Either the code is such a mess of spaghetti that changing toolbar behaviors would be a total and complete bear to accomplish, and as such nobody's taken that task on 2) GIMP developers don't care about usability or pleasing users
The default response to "does open source software do X?" is "you don't really need to do X."
I've gotten that response so many times, I can't count them. "Can open source apps paste spreadsheet cells into an email?" "Is there an open source app to do Gantt charts?" (Disclaimer: these are old examples; for all I know these scenarios work perfectly now.)
The second-most common is, "oh, you must have something weird." I usually get this one when I install a driver that claims to run some model of hardware, and then my hardware still doesn't work. "Sure, IVTV says it supports Hauppauge WinPVR 150 cards, but it doesn't work." "Oh, you must have something weird, maybe Hauppauge changed their chipset."
Whatever. I don't like the whole "pass-the-buck" culture.
I think his software hacking bona fides are well in order: being the first developer of gcc, gdb, and GNU Emacs place him in a league far above those who get unwarranted praise for their political opinions and programmatic choices
So he worked on a compiler, a debugger, and a text editor so arcane and bloated that it's a royal pain in the ass to use for anything. Nothing with a GUI, nothing designed for customers, and nothing to do with the web-- how is he qualified to talk about Gmail again?
I don't know enough about all the projects used in GNU to say that there aren't any which can be used to directly address the problems with so-called "cloud computing" (which he rightly derides),
Well, if he hates it so much, where's his alternative that works so much better? That's exactly my point!
He's like the Micheal Moore of software; he's quick to criticize everything and tell us everything we're all doing is completely wrong, but where's the answers? Where's the solutions?
What we need is *constructive* criticism, and that's not what we're getting. What we're getting is a blowhard blowing free.
but it's a safe bet that there's something which can contribute significantly.
Well, it's all open source. Since you're such a huge RMS fan, why don't you make it? You can even use his tools and software licenses! Of course, that would take a lot more effort than posting on Slashdot.
History clearly shows that he does know so much about what is right and wrong and he knows that it is society, not industry, that matters.
Then why is it so little of society uses his products? My grandma isn't sitting down with GCC or EMACS, she's using Yahoo! and Live Messenger and Skype and Windows.
Because all he ever does is criticize. If he knows so much about what's right and wrong in the computer industry, why isn't he the one building what's right?
I mean, I don't see RMS' version of cloud computing that does a better job than the commercial options available now. But he's sure quick to tell everybody how much the commercial options suck. The fact that these services exist and are bringing in money shows that there's demand for them; why didn't RMS anticipate this and meet that demand without deviating from his open soure philosophy?
What I'd like to see from him is constructive criticism. First construct something, then tell us why your thing is better than that other thing. Right now, he's just saying "well the commercial option is bad, so you shouldn't use the technology at all." It comes across as bitter to me.
(Let's assume for a moment that Gmail didn't let you download your entire email at any time.)
Ok; so Google fails at providing that service. Where's the open source version with all the features and convenience of Gmail without the reliance on some corporation?
I mean, it's great when open source gurus come out and say "here's a problem," but what I don't get is why the open source community doesn't come back with, "and here's how we solved it!"
I mean, at some point you have to prove that your way is actually *better* than the commercial software way, and frankly that just ain't happening at the moment.
So riddle-me-this: I'm a loyal open source user, what do I use that offers the same featureset as Gmail (or any other "cloud" application) without sacrificing any of my open source beliefs?
People *are not* tied to a single provider. I can go with Comcast, Verizon, Road Runner, SprintPCS, and others. When people say 'you only have one option' they generally mean for a cable modem and ignore other methods of access.
You're lucky. I won't say you're in the minority, because frankly I have no clue, but where I live there's two (and a half) options: 1) Verizon DSL (No FIOS yet) 2) Comcast Cable Modem 2.5) Clearwire Wireless (the reason Clearwire is a.5 is because coverage is spotty, speeds are highly variable, and ping times are terrible.)
If it takes 2 people to explain what your original post meant, one being you and the other being a helpful poster who didn't know what L2 meant any more than I did, then you did a shitty job of communication, period. That doesn't bother me, though.
Don't "woosh" people for your own failure. That's the part that bothers me.
Oh, Woosh. It's obviously my fault that I don't recognize a random string of characters to mean "I2 Wake-On-LAN." Of course, I still don't know what the holy fuck "I2" means (again, nothing relevant in Google), so maybe you just lack the ability to communicate worth a shit.
Yes, but the main point is that I still resent environmentalist weenies telling me what to do with my life. I don't tell them what to do, so they should kindly shut the hell up and let me do what I want. Ok?
The more environmentalists tell me what the do, the more I do the opposite just out of spite.:P
More seriously, though, my backup software (Mozy.com) runs overnight. If I turned off my PC, it'd never get backed-up. Plus Folder Sync requires both computers to be on to get synched correctly, so my laptop wouldn't get synced if my desktop was turned off.
I'm probably not at all typical, but I need to keep my work PC on so I can remote into it if clients call with problems after-hours. Or even if it turns out I need to call in sick, but still get at some of my files.
I shut down my laptop when I put it back into the case.
Uh, laptops have sleep mode and suspend. I can't imagine why anybody would ever shutdown a laptop unless they were going on vacation and not bringing it along. Or selling it, maybe.
I agree with you, but for some reason that's a hugely important metric that commenter, reviewers, and Slashdot posters pay attention to when new OS releases happen. So it's important from a PR standpoint, if for no other reason-- the real news here is that anybody using Linux has any conception of things that are important from a PR standpoint.
When I worked in a Xbox 360 testing lab, we had a bank of 36 Xbox dev kits just sitting against the back wall doing nothing but running constant fuzz-tests and logging any errors that came up.
I can't find a job because I have no experience. That is pretty bad when you first leave college, but after several years companies feel you're unemployable because no one hired you. My only hope for making any income is to create my own profitable software projects.
Dude, you don't get hired because you're Crazy Jim.
I mean, you're literally crazy. You think God speaks to you personally, you even put it on your Slashdot sig. You used to have a website where you claimed to invent all sorts of things that: 1) Were already invented before you came up with the idea, 2) You never bothered to actually make! 3) Were really, really stupid. (A comic book hero who carries katanas with rockets in the hilts?)
But when push comes to shove, it's number 2 on that list that hurts you. Everybody has ideas-- everybody in the industry has thousands of ideas for good products-- the only people who excel are the people who turn their ideas into realities.
Slashdot Mirror
Opinions vary wildly on whether Paris Hilton is hot. For example, I think she's a dog.
Dude, this is Slashdot, remember? I can practically guarantee the grandparent hasn't used any version of Windows newer than Windows ME.
All the criticisms of Windows on this site are either factually incorrect, or apply only to ancient versions. (Oh, and you're not allowed to criticize ancient versions of Linux, just so you're aware.)
Feh. I have a ton of data from high school still available (well, kind of, they are old Mac OS .SIT compressed files, and I don't have any OSes right now that would understand their resource forks) using a slightly different tactic:
Back up your damned data!
I'm 29, BTW. The oldest file I have is a game I made in 1997, in Think C 5.0 IIRC.
I understand that, and that's fine.
What I'm saying is that by decreeing that their driver works with the card, and it actually doesn't work with the card, that's a huge waste of my time and effort. It's a negative cost for me; not only do I still have a non-working card, but now I've lost tons of hours trying to debug their driver which doesn't work.
I have nothing against volunteers, I just want them to be honest with me.
If you're not trolling and you're genuinely trying to get other people to do work you want done, you should consider asking people more nicely. Honey attracts more flies than vinegar, as the old saying goes.
I'm trying to make a point.
The point is this: I respect people who ACTUALLY GO OUT AND BUILD THINGS instead of just yammering all the time.
Actual products = respect.
Telling us that actual products suck when you have nothing of your own = no respect.
I really couldn't care less if you actually go out and build something or not, I'm just saying that if RMS was really such a "visionary", he'd already have it ready to do because he'd be anticipating the customer need for it. But he didn't, and he has nothing to offer except insulting people who *did* meet the need.
Paying someone to write a Gantt chart program would undoubtedly be much more expensive than just buying Microsoft Project. No efficiency gained there. I don't give a crap about the philosophy of open source, so I'd much rather just use something else and get my job done.
The Hauppauge card was more a case of the IVTV developers lying to me. Don't tell me your driver supports that model of card if it doesn't.
Because MDI interfaces are an obscenity before god, and implementing one should be a corporal offense. Let window management be handled by the window manager.
Or they could just rip-off other (better) applications like Paint.NET that have the best of both worlds, and which would shut up all those complainers in one fell swoop.
Why don't they? Two possibilities:
1) Either the code is such a mess of spaghetti that changing toolbar behaviors would be a total and complete bear to accomplish, and as such nobody's taken that task on
2) GIMP developers don't care about usability or pleasing users
I think it's some mix of the two, personally.
The default response to "does open source software do X?" is "you don't really need to do X."
I've gotten that response so many times, I can't count them. "Can open source apps paste spreadsheet cells into an email?" "Is there an open source app to do Gantt charts?" (Disclaimer: these are old examples; for all I know these scenarios work perfectly now.)
The second-most common is, "oh, you must have something weird." I usually get this one when I install a driver that claims to run some model of hardware, and then my hardware still doesn't work. "Sure, IVTV says it supports Hauppauge WinPVR 150 cards, but it doesn't work." "Oh, you must have something weird, maybe Hauppauge changed their chipset."
Whatever. I don't like the whole "pass-the-buck" culture.
I think his software hacking bona fides are well in order: being the first developer of gcc, gdb, and GNU Emacs place him in a league far above those who get unwarranted praise for their political opinions and programmatic choices
So he worked on a compiler, a debugger, and a text editor so arcane and bloated that it's a royal pain in the ass to use for anything. Nothing with a GUI, nothing designed for customers, and nothing to do with the web-- how is he qualified to talk about Gmail again?
I don't know enough about all the projects used in GNU to say that there aren't any which can be used to directly address the problems with so-called "cloud computing" (which he rightly derides),
Well, if he hates it so much, where's his alternative that works so much better? That's exactly my point!
He's like the Micheal Moore of software; he's quick to criticize everything and tell us everything we're all doing is completely wrong, but where's the answers? Where's the solutions?
What we need is *constructive* criticism, and that's not what we're getting. What we're getting is a blowhard blowing free.
but it's a safe bet that there's something which can contribute significantly.
Well, it's all open source. Since you're such a huge RMS fan, why don't you make it? You can even use his tools and software licenses! Of course, that would take a lot more effort than posting on Slashdot.
History clearly shows that he does know so much about what is right and wrong and he knows that it is society, not industry, that matters.
Then why is it so little of society uses his products? My grandma isn't sitting down with GCC or EMACS, she's using Yahoo! and Live Messenger and Skype and Windows.
The Change Log is even more hilarious:
http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/~checkout~/hurd/gnumach/ChangeLog
The last change was over a year ago, and reads:
* doc/mach.texi: Many typos fixed.
Fixed typos! Hah.
Someone needs to tell Thomas Schwinge (gently) that he's wasting his life.
Hm, works for me. :)
Because all he ever does is criticize. If he knows so much about what's right and wrong in the computer industry, why isn't he the one building what's right?
I mean, I don't see RMS' version of cloud computing that does a better job than the commercial options available now. But he's sure quick to tell everybody how much the commercial options suck. The fact that these services exist and are bringing in money shows that there's demand for them; why didn't RMS anticipate this and meet that demand without deviating from his open soure philosophy?
What I'd like to see from him is constructive criticism. First construct something, then tell us why your thing is better than that other thing. Right now, he's just saying "well the commercial option is bad, so you shouldn't use the technology at all." It comes across as bitter to me.
(Let's assume for a moment that Gmail didn't let you download your entire email at any time.)
Ok; so Google fails at providing that service. Where's the open source version with all the features and convenience of Gmail without the reliance on some corporation?
I mean, it's great when open source gurus come out and say "here's a problem," but what I don't get is why the open source community doesn't come back with, "and here's how we solved it!"
I mean, at some point you have to prove that your way is actually *better* than the commercial software way, and frankly that just ain't happening at the moment.
So riddle-me-this: I'm a loyal open source user, what do I use that offers the same featureset as Gmail (or any other "cloud" application) without sacrificing any of my open source beliefs?
People *are not* tied to a single provider. I can go with Comcast, Verizon, Road Runner, SprintPCS, and others. When people say 'you only have one option' they generally mean for a cable modem and ignore other methods of access.
You're lucky. I won't say you're in the minority, because frankly I have no clue, but where I live there's two (and a half) options: .5 is because coverage is spotty, speeds are highly variable, and ping times are terrible.)
1) Verizon DSL (No FIOS yet)
2) Comcast Cable Modem
2.5) Clearwire Wireless (the reason Clearwire is a
If it takes 2 people to explain what your original post meant, one being you and the other being a helpful poster who didn't know what L2 meant any more than I did, then you did a shitty job of communication, period. That doesn't bother me, though.
Don't "woosh" people for your own failure. That's the part that bothers me.
Oh, Woosh. It's obviously my fault that I don't recognize a random string of characters to mean "I2 Wake-On-LAN." Of course, I still don't know what the holy fuck "I2" means (again, nothing relevant in Google), so maybe you just lack the ability to communicate worth a shit.
Is this some code I don't know? Google comes up with nothing.
So, uh... I2 WOL back to you, buddy!
Yes, but the main point is that I still resent environmentalist weenies telling me what to do with my life. I don't tell them what to do, so they should kindly shut the hell up and let me do what I want. Ok?
Yeah, but it's not in your cube, it's in the tiki bar.
Your office has a tiki bar, right? Right?
For a Grammar Nazi you got your grammar wrong.
When the gender is not known, and the subject is singular, the correct pronoun is "his." "Their" only works if the subject is plural.
The more environmentalists tell me what the do, the more I do the opposite just out of spite. :P
More seriously, though, my backup software (Mozy.com) runs overnight. If I turned off my PC, it'd never get backed-up. Plus Folder Sync requires both computers to be on to get synched correctly, so my laptop wouldn't get synced if my desktop was turned off.
I shut down my work PC when I leave at night.
I'm probably not at all typical, but I need to keep my work PC on so I can remote into it if clients call with problems after-hours. Or even if it turns out I need to call in sick, but still get at some of my files.
I shut down my laptop when I put it back into the case.
Uh, laptops have sleep mode and suspend. I can't imagine why anybody would ever shutdown a laptop unless they were going on vacation and not bringing it along. Or selling it, maybe.
I agree with you, but for some reason that's a hugely important metric that commenter, reviewers, and Slashdot posters pay attention to when new OS releases happen. So it's important from a PR standpoint, if for no other reason-- the real news here is that anybody using Linux has any conception of things that are important from a PR standpoint.
I have yet to see a unit test simulate what my 7-year old daughter does best -- clicking wildly all over the place until something crashes.
That's called Fuzz Testing, and yes, you should be doing it as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzz_testing
When I worked in a Xbox 360 testing lab, we had a bank of 36 Xbox dev kits just sitting against the back wall doing nothing but running constant fuzz-tests and logging any errors that came up.
I can't find a job because I have no experience. That is pretty bad when you first leave college, but after several years companies feel you're unemployable because no one hired you. My only hope for making any income is to create my own profitable software projects.
Dude, you don't get hired because you're Crazy Jim.
I mean, you're literally crazy. You think God speaks to you personally, you even put it on your Slashdot sig. You used to have a website where you claimed to invent all sorts of things that:
1) Were already invented before you came up with the idea,
2) You never bothered to actually make!
3) Were really, really stupid. (A comic book hero who carries katanas with rockets in the hilts?)
But when push comes to shove, it's number 2 on that list that hurts you. Everybody has ideas-- everybody in the industry has thousands of ideas for good products-- the only people who excel are the people who turn their ideas into realities.