On my Mac, Finder, Address Book, and iCal are brushed metal, whereas Mail and iTunes are uniform grey. Preview is different again. What the hell?!? Over the last 3 years, MacOS has become _less_ consistent, whereas Gnome has become much more so.
Duh. That's the entire point of this story... independent Apple fans are attempting to document Apple's horrible slide into UI mediocrity so third-party apps can at least be consistent with the system, since Apple doesn't feel the need to actually document any of these stupid themes on their own. This is the kind of thing that makes people remember the unstable, quirky Mac OS 7 with tears forming in their eyes... Apple used to give half-a-shit, they don't anymore.
I'm not saying Gnome is perfect (I haven't used KDE much for a while) - I doubt anyone would say that - but it's certainly not as inferior as you're making out.
GAIM is a GNOME app, is it not? It's so hideous, it makes Microsoft's Luna theme look beautiful by comparison. You seriously think that competes even slightly with what Apple's putting out? Even the crummy stuff Apple's put out recently?
(BTW, your example about changing colors is particularly apt, since you can see that GNOME apps on Windows completely and utterly ignore the Windows theme and do their own thing.)
Marathon was groundbreaking mostly in that it brought an interesting storyline to a FPS game, other than that it was really Mac;s answer to Doom.
I think you're underselling a great game. It's a lot more than "Mac's answer to Doom." (Pathways To Darkness would fit that description better, although IMO Pathways is also a better game than Doom.)
Marathon also had the ability to look up/down, which I think was an FPS first (unless you could Descent.) It had a few different multiplayer modes over a LAN and, get this, even voice chat! (If you had a Mac with a microphone.) It also had friendly creatures that helped you out, which might be another first. It also had levels without oxygen. Oh, and the rocket launcher didn't extend out from your chest, your character actually held it on his shoulder.
Marathon II was one of the first games to add environmental sounds instead of music.
How about a response from somebody who's played Halo?
Putting health packs on walls
Halo doesn't have health packs on walls.
It was also not the first to have vehicles (Tribes anyone?).
Duh. But it was the first FPS game to really nail down vehicle physics, and I think that's significant. Tribes 2 tried it and failed; they had to convert the tank to a hovercraft instead of a wheeled vehicle, and the one wheeled vehicle they did leave in barely worked. (It traveled super-slow and often got stuck. And the controls sucked.)
Honestly, i'd hate to be a dev at Bungie. Thanks to Microsoft, they have been doing nothing but Halo for nearly 10 years.
And how long has Bethestha been doing Elder Scrolls? How long has Valve been doing Half-Life? That's just the nature of the beast, tons of games companies operate that way. Besides, Bungie did Marathon for years and years before Halo was even a concept.
I don't recall Half-Life having a recharging mechanism. It's been awhile, but I recall you had to use machines on the wall to recharge your shield pack and health bar.
Tribes had hovercraft, and Tribes 2 had one wheeled vehicle that moved slow often got stuck in the ground. It also didn't help that Tribes 2 sucked beans compared to the original. Halo was the first game to get wheeled vehicle physics right, and that's pretty significant.
The Halo self-recharging shield was a new invention for Halo, and now it's in practically every action game now. Crackdown has it, as does Rainbow 6: Vegas, for instance.
Duke Nukem and Doom had melee attacks, but they were part of your weapon inventory and clunky to use. You couldn't smack people WITH your weapon, like you could in Halo. I'm not sure if Halo invented that particular mechanic, but I can't recall seeing it before Halo and I've played a lot of FPS games.
Halo had a limited inventory because it doesn't many sense for a single person to be carrying a dozen weapons. Where would he keep them? Bungie has a habit of taking cliches in FPS games and re-examining them. When Marathon came out, one of the big innovations was a rocket launcher that your character actually carried on his shoulder, instead of the Doom rocket launcher somehow extended from the middle of your character's chest. It sounds stupid now, but at the time that was pretty neat.
I don't think Halo is the greatest game ever made, but I do think it's in the top 10% of FPS games.
Halo, on the other hand, was just the latest iteration of a long line of FPS inspired by Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.
But that's not to say it's not very, very influential. Look at how many post-Halo games restrict you to a realistic amount of weapons? Look at how many post-Halo games have a 'recharging' HP mechanism of some sort. Not to mention, Halo was the first game to really, really, truly nail down vehicle physics.
Halo isn't a revolutionary game in the ecosystem of "all videogames." In the ecosystem of "first-person shooter games" I think it counts as revolutionary.
I'm more interested in making computers usable by normal people than geeks. Geeks already know how to use computers and don't have problems with it. From a user's perspective, what I said is true: two different distros running GNOME are more similar than the same distro running GNOME and it running KDE.
But not as far as people who actually care are concerned. Why should Linux pander to the lowest common denominator?
If you don't think Linux become more popular, then why are you even reading this article? Considering the entire point of the article is to propose a method to make Linux more popular.
In any case, the third option is basically a 'build-it-yourself' distro. People who aren't the "lowest common denominator" (as you apparently classify the vast majority of the population) are welcome to use that option and retain all their geek cred.
Some people, like me, are more concerned with making an OS people can use to do more in less time than geek cred.
No, it is not. Many have gigantic differences if you know more about the OS than the windowing system you are using.
People who know more about the OS are competent enough to install their own windowing system if they don't like KDE or GNOME. That's the entire point of having a third distro aimed specifically at those people.
For people who don't know the difference between an OS and a windowing system (about 99% of the population), well, then they have a nice easy option. They can go into a software store and look for the GNOME label on the package and know it'll work with their computer. When asked what OS they use, they won't have to spend minutes explaining *which* Linux they're using, instead they can just say "KDE."
so... bejeweled hasn't been copied (ripped off) over and over ?
I didn't say it hadn't.
the parent just told that probably because it's much easier to get your hands on frozen bubble than on the real bust-a-move
No, they probably said that because they're a hard-core open source advocate who has zero respect for intellectual property whatsoever and therefore doesn't care that it's a blatant rip-off. Or they're a hard-core open source advocate who isn't a gamer (other than open source games) who doesn't realize that it's a blatant rip-off. Either way, there's no reason to pimp out this game as if it's so great when there's nothing original in it at all.
Linux would be better off reducing the number of distros than working on some hare-brained 'over-the-web' scheme that couldn't possibly work.
I'd rather see an official GNOME distro, an official KDE distro, and a 'server' distro that people can install their own stuff on. After-all, Fedora running GNOME is more similar to Ubuntu running GNOME than Fedora running KDE, as far as users are concerned. It's ridiculous to have dozens of distros, almost all of which use one of two (or both!) windowing systems.
Frozen Bubble is just a ripoff of Bust-A-Move. I'm sick of open source fans talking about it as if it was the second coming of God when it's just a port/ripoff of an already established (and popular) game series.
Mother's day, like Valentine's day, like every holiday, is what you make of it. If you want to buy a nice necklace for mom, do it. If you want to contribute to a campaign to end war, then do that.
However, it can now is not this this problem almost one hour exists and it no one of the support necessary holds here something User again to stations with it we also only once can have calmed.
That's why you always write the WHERE clause first, then top it with a "SELECT" and look at the dataset to make sure it's what you want, THEN type "UPDATE."
I guess every new database programmer has done this at least once, but yeah.
Good paranoid rant, but in what way does this "increase the workload on non-IIS servers?" In anything, the IIS servers will have to do more work to answer these requests with actual data instead of just sending a 404 code. Next time think the paranoid rant through a bit more.
Just be happy there's no postings about how bad Microsoft Bob was. That used to pop up daily on this site, complaints about a product that was only sold a few months and discontinued a full decade ago. It was ridiculous.
The real problem is that the hard-core Linux users don't use Windows, so they just assume everything that was wrong with Windows 95 is still wrong with Windows Vista.
I guess next time Microsoft wants to add a free feature that you're not required to use, they should run it by Mikazo first to get the thumbs-up. After all, if Mikazo says he won't use it, there's really no point, right?
Black and White had years of hype-machine following it, proclaiming it the best game ever with the best AI, most creative premise, best writing, etc. All the magazines and websites had previews. Then as the months dragged on and it was delayed, the hype started to dissolve. Then when people actually played the game, the hype disappeared... turns out the game was never that great to begin with.
Same thing could happen to Spore. Look at how much hype "The Movies" got before it came out, and what impact has it had on the industry? Next to none.
IE has had Flash in the default install since about version 5.5. You do have to click a "yes I want to use Flash" screen the first time you encounter a Flash media, but it's there. I don't know what copy of IE you have that didn't include Flash, it might only be a US thing.
Except that if Yahoo weren't so lazy, they could re-code all those games in Flash and work on more a lot more users' computers by default. It's not like Yahoo Games is using that Java to do anything that you couldn't do in Flash.
I also forgot to mention that the crappier Sun's Java VM becomes, the less likely people are to download it. Right now it's like 130 MB download and keeps some moronic system tray app going that constantly annoys you with "your VM is version 1.6.2.3.12.4.5.2.1.3 and needs to be updated to 1.6.2.3.12.4.5.2.1.4!!!".
Man, this game is great! Wow!... Ok, it's delayed. Ok, another delay. Hm, ok, that preview doesn't look as impressive as it once did. Man, this game isn't really all that good.
Slashdot Mirror
On my Mac, Finder, Address Book, and iCal are brushed metal, whereas Mail and iTunes are uniform grey. Preview is different again. What the hell?!? Over the last 3 years, MacOS has become _less_ consistent, whereas Gnome has become much more so.
l y.png
g gy.png
Duh. That's the entire point of this story... independent Apple fans are attempting to document Apple's horrible slide into UI mediocrity so third-party apps can at least be consistent with the system, since Apple doesn't feel the need to actually document any of these stupid themes on their own. This is the kind of thing that makes people remember the unstable, quirky Mac OS 7 with tears forming in their eyes... Apple used to give half-a-shit, they don't anymore.
I'm not saying Gnome is perfect (I haven't used KDE much for a while) - I doubt anyone would say that - but it's certainly not as inferior as you're making out.
Welcome to my favorite screenshots:
http://schend.net/images/screenshots/gaim_2_is_ug
http://schend.net/images/screenshots/gaim_2_is_bu
GAIM is a GNOME app, is it not? It's so hideous, it makes Microsoft's Luna theme look beautiful by comparison. You seriously think that competes even slightly with what Apple's putting out? Even the crummy stuff Apple's put out recently?
(BTW, your example about changing colors is particularly apt, since you can see that GNOME apps on Windows completely and utterly ignore the Windows theme and do their own thing.)
Marathon was groundbreaking mostly in that it brought an interesting storyline to a FPS game, other than that it was really Mac;s answer to Doom.
I think you're underselling a great game. It's a lot more than "Mac's answer to Doom." (Pathways To Darkness would fit that description better, although IMO Pathways is also a better game than Doom.)
Marathon also had the ability to look up/down, which I think was an FPS first (unless you could Descent.) It had a few different multiplayer modes over a LAN and, get this, even voice chat! (If you had a Mac with a microphone.) It also had friendly creatures that helped you out, which might be another first. It also had levels without oxygen. Oh, and the rocket launcher didn't extend out from your chest, your character actually held it on his shoulder.
Marathon II was one of the first games to add environmental sounds instead of music.
How about a response from somebody who's played Halo?
Putting health packs on walls
Halo doesn't have health packs on walls.
It was also not the first to have vehicles (Tribes anyone?).
Duh. But it was the first FPS game to really nail down vehicle physics, and I think that's significant. Tribes 2 tried it and failed; they had to convert the tank to a hovercraft instead of a wheeled vehicle, and the one wheeled vehicle they did leave in barely worked. (It traveled super-slow and often got stuck. And the controls sucked.)
Honestly, i'd hate to be a dev at Bungie. Thanks to Microsoft, they have been doing nothing but Halo for nearly 10 years.
And how long has Bethestha been doing Elder Scrolls? How long has Valve been doing Half-Life? That's just the nature of the beast, tons of games companies operate that way. Besides, Bungie did Marathon for years and years before Halo was even a concept.
I don't recall Half-Life having a recharging mechanism. It's been awhile, but I recall you had to use machines on the wall to recharge your shield pack and health bar.
Tribes had hovercraft, and Tribes 2 had one wheeled vehicle that moved slow often got stuck in the ground. It also didn't help that Tribes 2 sucked beans compared to the original. Halo was the first game to get wheeled vehicle physics right, and that's pretty significant.
The Halo self-recharging shield was a new invention for Halo, and now it's in practically every action game now. Crackdown has it, as does Rainbow 6: Vegas, for instance.
Duke Nukem and Doom had melee attacks, but they were part of your weapon inventory and clunky to use. You couldn't smack people WITH your weapon, like you could in Halo. I'm not sure if Halo invented that particular mechanic, but I can't recall seeing it before Halo and I've played a lot of FPS games.
Halo had a limited inventory because it doesn't many sense for a single person to be carrying a dozen weapons. Where would he keep them? Bungie has a habit of taking cliches in FPS games and re-examining them. When Marathon came out, one of the big innovations was a rocket launcher that your character actually carried on his shoulder, instead of the Doom rocket launcher somehow extended from the middle of your character's chest. It sounds stupid now, but at the time that was pretty neat.
I don't think Halo is the greatest game ever made, but I do think it's in the top 10% of FPS games.
Halo, on the other hand, was just the latest iteration of a long line of FPS inspired by Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.
But that's not to say it's not very, very influential. Look at how many post-Halo games restrict you to a realistic amount of weapons? Look at how many post-Halo games have a 'recharging' HP mechanism of some sort. Not to mention, Halo was the first game to really, really, truly nail down vehicle physics.
Halo isn't a revolutionary game in the ecosystem of "all videogames." In the ecosystem of "first-person shooter games" I think it counts as revolutionary.
I'm more interested in making computers usable by normal people than geeks. Geeks already know how to use computers and don't have problems with it. From a user's perspective, what I said is true: two different distros running GNOME are more similar than the same distro running GNOME and it running KDE.
But not as far as people who actually care are concerned. Why should Linux pander to the lowest common denominator?
If you don't think Linux become more popular, then why are you even reading this article? Considering the entire point of the article is to propose a method to make Linux more popular.
In any case, the third option is basically a 'build-it-yourself' distro. People who aren't the "lowest common denominator" (as you apparently classify the vast majority of the population) are welcome to use that option and retain all their geek cred.
Some people, like me, are more concerned with making an OS people can use to do more in less time than geek cred.
No, it is not. Many have gigantic differences if you know more about the OS than the windowing system you are using.
People who know more about the OS are competent enough to install their own windowing system if they don't like KDE or GNOME. That's the entire point of having a third distro aimed specifically at those people.
For people who don't know the difference between an OS and a windowing system (about 99% of the population), well, then they have a nice easy option. They can go into a software store and look for the GNOME label on the package and know it'll work with their computer. When asked what OS they use, they won't have to spend minutes explaining *which* Linux they're using, instead they can just say "KDE."
so ... bejeweled hasn't been copied (ripped off) over and over ?
I didn't say it hadn't.
the parent just told that probably
because it's much easier to get your hands on frozen bubble than on the real bust-a-move
No, they probably said that because they're a hard-core open source advocate who has zero respect for intellectual property whatsoever and therefore doesn't care that it's a blatant rip-off. Or they're a hard-core open source advocate who isn't a gamer (other than open source games) who doesn't realize that it's a blatant rip-off. Either way, there's no reason to pimp out this game as if it's so great when there's nothing original in it at all.
Linux would be better off reducing the number of distros than working on some hare-brained 'over-the-web' scheme that couldn't possibly work.
I'd rather see an official GNOME distro, an official KDE distro, and a 'server' distro that people can install their own stuff on. After-all, Fedora running GNOME is more similar to Ubuntu running GNOME than Fedora running KDE, as far as users are concerned. It's ridiculous to have dozens of distros, almost all of which use one of two (or both!) windowing systems.
Frozen Bubble is just a ripoff of Bust-A-Move. I'm sick of open source fans talking about it as if it was the second coming of God when it's just a port/ripoff of an already established (and popular) game series.
Mother's day, like Valentine's day, like every holiday, is what you make of it. If you want to buy a nice necklace for mom, do it. If you want to contribute to a campaign to end war, then do that.
Read the summary, it's undoubtedly him talking about .mac, specifically iDisk. ;)
From the article:
However, it can now is not this this problem almost one hour exists and it no one of the support necessary holds here something User again to stations with it we also only once can have calmed.
Well said, man. Well said!
Obligatory post of my Crackdown review: http://blakeyrat.com/2007/03/27/crackdown-review/
In what way is it the same as spam? Do you consider EVERY response code from your web server as a personal message directed at you? That's ridiculous.
Just ignore those requests on your web server and move on with your life. Why stress out over something so petty?
That's why you always write the WHERE clause first, then top it with a "SELECT" and look at the dataset to make sure it's what you want, THEN type "UPDATE."
I guess every new database programmer has done this at least once, but yeah.
Good paranoid rant, but in what way does this "increase the workload on non-IIS servers?" In anything, the IIS servers will have to do more work to answer these requests with actual data instead of just sending a 404 code. Next time think the paranoid rant through a bit more.
Why? What harm does it do? "Oh no! A 404 error! The world is ending!"
If you don't like the feature, don't support it, don't sabotage it, just... don't use it. Why is that so hard for people?
Just be happy there's no postings about how bad Microsoft Bob was. That used to pop up daily on this site, complaints about a product that was only sold a few months and discontinued a full decade ago. It was ridiculous.
The real problem is that the hard-core Linux users don't use Windows, so they just assume everything that was wrong with Windows 95 is still wrong with Windows Vista.
I guess next time Microsoft wants to add a free feature that you're not required to use, they should run it by Mikazo first to get the thumbs-up. After all, if Mikazo says he won't use it, there's really no point, right?
Duh. That's the point of my comment.
Black and White had years of hype-machine following it, proclaiming it the best game ever with the best AI, most creative premise, best writing, etc. All the magazines and websites had previews. Then as the months dragged on and it was delayed, the hype started to dissolve. Then when people actually played the game, the hype disappeared... turns out the game was never that great to begin with.
Same thing could happen to Spore. Look at how much hype "The Movies" got before it came out, and what impact has it had on the industry? Next to none.
IE has had Flash in the default install since about version 5.5. You do have to click a "yes I want to use Flash" screen the first time you encounter a Flash media, but it's there. I don't know what copy of IE you have that didn't include Flash, it might only be a US thing.
Except that if Yahoo weren't so lazy, they could re-code all those games in Flash and work on more a lot more users' computers by default. It's not like Yahoo Games is using that Java to do anything that you couldn't do in Flash.
I also forgot to mention that the crappier Sun's Java VM becomes, the less likely people are to download it. Right now it's like 130 MB download and keeps some moronic system tray app going that constantly annoys you with "your VM is version 1.6.2.3.12.4.5.2.1.3 and needs to be updated to 1.6.2.3.12.4.5.2.1.4!!!".
Man, this game is great! Wow! ... Ok, it's delayed. Ok, another delay. Hm, ok, that preview doesn't look as impressive as it once did. Man, this game isn't really all that good.