I live on the West Coast; our Amtrak service is terrible. (Possible exception: the Cascades train that goes through Eugene and Vancouver. Both Vancouvers. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet.)
The standard aluminum trains (cars built, at best, 1975) are slow, filthy, and always at least one hour late.
Doesn't MSWord still expect the user to add hyphenation manually?
You could have just typed, "I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about" and it would have been quicker. (The answer is no. Duh.)
But the real meat of the matter:
Anyway, the point was that these word processors are missing the rules that the typographical community holds sacred and this lack of rules/algorithms usually leads to them producing mediocre documents at best.
Look, the typographical community can have all the rules it wants, but none of that matters if it can't produce software the average person can use. Whether or not Word correctly follows their "rules", the point is that average Joe can use Word-- they can't use LaTeX and troff. LaTeX and troff might as well not even exist for 99% of the population.
And that's assuming I agree with the argument, which I don't. Word has some rough spots-- someone in this post mentioned having a table at the top of a document and then trying to insert text before the table as being particularly difficult-- but it supports everything this article is bitching about. Maybe some of those things (like not adding a hyphen on the last line of the right-most page) aren't in the default template, but making a new template is trivial.
If the typographical community's complaint is that Word does the wrong thing by default, then maybe they should make a "correct" template and start a public information campaign to get people to install it. Telling people not to use Word is entirely orthogonal to the problem.
In any case, there's no point debating with someone who's so clueless they thought Word made you type your own hyphens.
Gee, I can't imagine why people would use Word over this.
Christ. This article, like so many here at Slashdot, summarizes to: Usability matters. Usability matters A LOT. Open source developers still don't fucking get it.
Here's a thought: if you want people to stop using Word, why not make something better than Word? Shocking.
You seem to assume there wasn't a new version of Windows because Microsoft was doing nothing, rather than the actual reason that the Vista project was a complete disaster that went years over-schedule.
That's what he's referring to, no doubt. "What we had to do around Windows" was "getting Vista into shippable state".
Tell me, what games have you designed? I guess saying, "speaking as a game designer" doesn't imply you've actually built a game or anything, so you're in the clear here.
They run better because they've been recompiled as part of the porting process, and compilers have gotten 15% better since those old-ass games were first released.
Also, saying, "once the majority of games get a Linux version" is the same as saying "it'll never happen". If people like him, who are super-enthusiastic about gaming on Linux, aren't willing to switch in the current ecosystem... who is? And if nobody is... why would you expect game developers to port their games?
It's not about ease-of-use (although it is kind of about that), it's about functionality. GDB simply can not do half of what Visual Studio's debugger can.
Developers with Visual Studio are debugging inside their HLSL shaders. To my knowledge, nobody else is doing that. Nobody else can do that.
The fact that Visual Studio's debugger is easier to learn, and much better integrated with the IDE is just frosting.
Well, there's really no point in deleting it, because if Microsoft reacted to this problem by buying you a free Ferrari you'd still say they were horrible and wrong for doing so.
The point is that bad hardware sucks. Nothing the OS does to mitigate it is going to be ideal; Windows does it one way, Linux another. Saying the Windows way is worse, to me, is ridiculous. But then again I'm not an average Slashdotter who spends all day hating Microsoft for no logical reason.
And I don't know why I started posting to this site again. Big mistake.
If Windows does that, it: 1) is a result of hardware failure (meaning: the drive kept failing writes, and did it consistently enough that Windows "stepped-down" to a more simple protocol). 2) tells the user in the form of a notification bubble, and of course it gets logged in the Event Viewer like everything else.
So basically you have broken hardware and are blind. I mean if you were running Linux and it had a similar hardware failure, you'd just have files mysteriously deleted also with no notice, so obviously the Linux way is far superior.
Use another distro, obviously you're doing something wrong and it's all your fault, you must have a weird configuration nobody else in the universe has, well it's open source you can go fix the updates yourself, maybe you're just not smart enough to run a sophisticated OS like Linux, etc etc etc etc.
Just going through the litany of replies you'll get to save some time.
The problem, as posted elsewhere in this thread, is that the insurance companies do not currently have a real-time link with all providers-- especially pharmacies.
Without a real-time data link, a pharmacy could easily accidentally violate the law by performing a transaction before data from a previous transaction is in their systems. That's a problem.
I use my current Xbox hooked up to my computer monitor. I sit about 3' away from a 27" monitor. How could a Kinect possibly function in that environment?
You can do the same with OneNote on any device with a touchscreen. But the Livescribe is cheaper, if you don't already have a touchscreen laptop, convertible, or tablet.
If the open source community wants to crow about having a truly great note-taking app, it first needs to... actually have a truly great note-taking app.
Hate Microsoft if you want, but OneNote is the best at what it does. Kind of like Wolverine.
People won't start using encryption en masse until it's so brain-dead simple that they don't even know they're using it.
Like every Microsoft user who uses Remote Desktop? Or Xbox Live?
Railing against Windows seems counter-productive, since Microsoft *does* encrypt silently by default for products where it makes sense. It's the open source tools that generally don't.
It draws fucking menus wrong. So does Audacity, BTW.
I need to find out where they got their UI widgets and slap whoever provided them... drop down menus aren't goddamned hard, they've been perfected for 30 years at this point.
My issue is projects that ask for the public to submit bug reports. But when the public does, they get either:
1) Completely ignored for years on end (1)
2) A snide, "if you want it fixed, fix it yourself" response.
3) A snide, pass-the-buck response. "That's not our bug, that's a bug in Java, tell them to fix it."
It's irritating. I've learned to never bother putting in bug reports, even if the project asks for them.
(1) Not even triaged in the worst cases-- Chromium, I'm looking at you. I finally got someone to look at it after 2 weeks by grabbing an email address off the bug tracker and nagging them to do so. By that time it'd turned out some dev has stealthily fixed it without even consulting the bug database first, apparently.
(2) Why do these projects ask for bug reports from the public if they don't want them? Just put up a message that says, "hey we don't WANT you to put in bugs, either write code or go away" and at least they'd be honest with their users.
(3) Yeah, well Java hasn't fixed it in 15 years, and there's an easy workaround you could apply, but if you're ok having shitty software because Oracle doesn't give a crap, I'll just use something else.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually there's a very good reason: only geeks use LaTeX, and geeks are completely incapable of writing usable (read: wysiwyg) software.
I live on the West Coast; our Amtrak service is terrible. (Possible exception: the Cascades train that goes through Eugene and Vancouver. Both Vancouvers. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet.)
The standard aluminum trains (cars built, at best, 1975) are slow, filthy, and always at least one hour late.
You could have just typed, "I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about" and it would have been quicker. (The answer is no. Duh.)
But the real meat of the matter:
Look, the typographical community can have all the rules it wants, but none of that matters if it can't produce software the average person can use. Whether or not Word correctly follows their "rules", the point is that average Joe can use Word-- they can't use LaTeX and troff. LaTeX and troff might as well not even exist for 99% of the population.
And that's assuming I agree with the argument, which I don't. Word has some rough spots-- someone in this post mentioned having a table at the top of a document and then trying to insert text before the table as being particularly difficult-- but it supports everything this article is bitching about. Maybe some of those things (like not adding a hyphen on the last line of the right-most page) aren't in the default template, but making a new template is trivial.
If the typographical community's complaint is that Word does the wrong thing by default, then maybe they should make a "correct" template and start a public information campaign to get people to install it. Telling people not to use Word is entirely orthogonal to the problem.
In any case, there's no point debating with someone who's so clueless they thought Word made you type your own hyphens.
Gee, I can't imagine why people would use Word over this.
Christ. This article, like so many here at Slashdot, summarizes to: Usability matters. Usability matters A LOT. Open source developers still don't fucking get it.
Here's a thought: if you want people to stop using Word, why not make something better than Word? Shocking.
You seem to assume there wasn't a new version of Windows because Microsoft was doing nothing, rather than the actual reason that the Vista project was a complete disaster that went years over-schedule.
That's what he's referring to, no doubt. "What we had to do around Windows" was "getting Vista into shippable state".
CrazyJim, you so crazy!!!
Tell me, what games have you designed? I guess saying, "speaking as a game designer" doesn't imply you've actually built a game or anything, so you're in the clear here.
Give God my regards.
They run better because they've been recompiled as part of the porting process, and compilers have gotten 15% better since those old-ass games were first released.
Also, saying, "once the majority of games get a Linux version" is the same as saying "it'll never happen". If people like him, who are super-enthusiastic about gaming on Linux, aren't willing to switch in the current ecosystem... who is? And if nobody is... why would you expect game developers to port their games?
Well, synthesized, processed, monkey-driven... who cares? The point is, it's there and it works. And Microsoft put in the effort.
It's not about ease-of-use (although it is kind of about that), it's about functionality. GDB simply can not do half of what Visual Studio's debugger can.
Developers with Visual Studio are debugging inside their HLSL shaders. To my knowledge, nobody else is doing that. Nobody else can do that.
The fact that Visual Studio's debugger is easier to learn, and much better integrated with the IDE is just frosting.
Well, there's really no point in deleting it, because if Microsoft reacted to this problem by buying you a free Ferrari you'd still say they were horrible and wrong for doing so.
The point is that bad hardware sucks. Nothing the OS does to mitigate it is going to be ideal; Windows does it one way, Linux another. Saying the Windows way is worse, to me, is ridiculous. But then again I'm not an average Slashdotter who spends all day hating Microsoft for no logical reason.
And I don't know why I started posting to this site again. Big mistake.
If Windows does that, it:
1) is a result of hardware failure (meaning: the drive kept failing writes, and did it consistently enough that Windows "stepped-down" to a more simple protocol).
2) tells the user in the form of a notification bubble, and of course it gets logged in the Event Viewer like everything else.
So basically you have broken hardware and are blind. I mean if you were running Linux and it had a similar hardware failure, you'd just have files mysteriously deleted also with no notice, so obviously the Linux way is far superior.
Use another distro, obviously you're doing something wrong and it's all your fault, you must have a weird configuration nobody else in the universe has, well it's open source you can go fix the updates yourself, maybe you're just not smart enough to run a sophisticated OS like Linux, etc etc etc etc.
Just going through the litany of replies you'll get to save some time.
Did you used to write propaganda for the Nazis? Give the rhetoric a rest and just report the facts, please.
CrazyJim1? You're BACK!
HEY EVERYBODY! It's CrazyJim1! This guy is a hoot.
Tell us about your game idea where the samurai carries two katanas and the katanas have rockets in the hilt and he can use them to fly around!
I live in Washington, Snohomish County, and I haven't heard about any changes to the recycling rules.
The problem, as posted elsewhere in this thread, is that the insurance companies do not currently have a real-time link with all providers-- especially pharmacies.
Without a real-time data link, a pharmacy could easily accidentally violate the law by performing a transaction before data from a previous transaction is in their systems. That's a problem.
I use my current Xbox hooked up to my computer monitor. I sit about 3' away from a 27" monitor. How could a Kinect possibly function in that environment?
I'm glad Microsoft has reversed course on this.
You can do the same with OneNote on any device with a touchscreen. But the Livescribe is cheaper, if you don't already have a touchscreen laptop, convertible, or tablet.
If the open source community wants to crow about having a truly great note-taking app, it first needs to ... actually have a truly great note-taking app.
Hate Microsoft if you want, but OneNote is the best at what it does. Kind of like Wolverine.
You weren't, but the article we're all (presumably) discussing does.
Like every Microsoft user who uses Remote Desktop? Or Xbox Live?
Railing against Windows seems counter-productive, since Microsoft *does* encrypt silently by default for products where it makes sense. It's the open source tools that generally don't.
TM could be doing 15 minutes of work on your own HD before it bothers spinning-up the external, you realize.
You may be correct, but your evidence doesn't match your assertion.
Alec Baldwin doesn't live in Texas.
It draws fucking menus wrong. So does Audacity, BTW.
I need to find out where they got their UI widgets and slap whoever provided them... drop down menus aren't goddamned hard, they've been perfected for 30 years at this point.
My issue is projects that ask for the public to submit bug reports. But when the public does, they get either:
1) Completely ignored for years on end (1)
2) A snide, "if you want it fixed, fix it yourself" response.
3) A snide, pass-the-buck response. "That's not our bug, that's a bug in Java, tell them to fix it."
It's irritating. I've learned to never bother putting in bug reports, even if the project asks for them.
(1) Not even triaged in the worst cases-- Chromium, I'm looking at you. I finally got someone to look at it after 2 weeks by grabbing an email address off the bug tracker and nagging them to do so. By that time it'd turned out some dev has stealthily fixed it without even consulting the bug database first, apparently.
(2) Why do these projects ask for bug reports from the public if they don't want them? Just put up a message that says, "hey we don't WANT you to put in bugs, either write code or go away" and at least they'd be honest with their users.
(3) Yeah, well Java hasn't fixed it in 15 years, and there's an easy workaround you could apply, but if you're ok having shitty software because Oracle doesn't give a crap, I'll just use something else.