I'm not implying any fearfulness, and I respect your want to try to move on and make amends emotionally. If laughing is your way of emotionally dealing with a hardship even though you're sad inside, then so be it. All I'm saying is that it's still a tragedy. I know that certain things aren't good, and making fun of them not only boarders on a disrespect for those involved and who were negatively impacted, but I simply see it as childish and insensitive. If that's where your humor level is though, then so be it. I know tragedy though, and I find no reason to laugh at others when they go through it.
I just don't support negativity, and prefer the real reasons for being happy which don't involve making fun of others, which is apparently something unfelt by internet griefers for example. It's pretty sad when you feel you have to validate your importance by picking on others. Back in my day, it was called bullying.
Wow, I don't like dishonesty but that's a good point, and now both Opera and FF3 have full page zooming, though I'm sure Microsoft is going to try to adopt the same if they haven't already. =/
"Oh noes! They know about us making Quatro and GeForce cards the same but charging so much more for the Quatros! Maybe we'll actually have to start selling our cards honestly and based on their actual ability and quality!"
nVidia should be slapped for doing that, not that AMD/ATI is any better with their similar offerings I'm sure. Seriously, all this crap about "IP" and DRM, it's all a joke, they are merely weapons used by monopolies to abuse consumers. Everyone will be better off and technology will advance faster in an open source world where competition actually exists so crap like that won't happen (and if governments would get rid of foolish patent and copyright laws, too, IMO).
Probably Phoronix, as they already have the cards and are already testing them, even though the cards have yet to hit stores it seems. They're one of the few groups I've seen really trying to delve into benchmarking hardware and reporting it, and the test suite they've made is a pretty good starting point for doing benchmarks yourself.
They didn't talk much about this because they already have to some extent in other articles on their site. It wasn't a be-all end-all article, but one which adds onto earlier articles. You're right though that there are some questions left over even then. Right now it seems the open source drivers are rapidly catching up to the quality and features of the closed source one, but aren't there yet. It'd be perfectly happy with an open source driver which didn't include the DRM part, since that is potentially one issue, since I don't plan on running crap with DRM any way. Just makes the software seem totally lame to do stuff like that.
Agreed, I think Tux on the box is actually the best thing out of all this. Advertising is a huge help, because there are still a lot of people out there trapped on Windows machines and looking for ways out. Tux on the box sends a message across the industries, and that in turn will help convince the industries support Linux more.
I'm honestly actually really surprised that AMD is doing this. I thought Microsoft had such a stronghold on any kind of advertising that juggernauts like AMD who have to interoperate with Microsoft wouldn't be allowed to do so in some agreement somewhere. Perhaps though, in AMD's case, it's Microsoft that has to worry about interoperating with them and not so much vise versa.
Well Phoronix does a lot of Linux hardware benchmarking and reviewing, and said they are working on getting some data up on their site after they've had some time with the 4850 and 4870. Just annoying they can get hardware like that two weeks or so before it's in stores.:P
Yeah, wow, I never want to downgrade to Vista either. I've heard about this thing though...Linux, I think it's called.;) Seriously tho, I'm also looking forward to different tearing issues being resolved. Compiz Fusion is usually pretty bad with that...
It's an upward spiral that will gain momentum. Even something as small as putting Tux on the box is a huge boon for Linux as it will help educate. All these things they are doing are certainly helpful, so yes, now we'll see how game developers will respond to this. There are quite a few rumblings here and there of Linux clients and support, some from some pretty big players, other than ID and their Quake Wars I mean.
Exactly, and Linux has been stuck in a catch 22 for a while, but signals like these to the industry sends ripples out all over the place. AMD supporting Linux properly means game developers are much more confident in providing Linux games, which means more hardware vendors want to support it, and the catch 22 begins moving in an upwards spiral.
That's one of the main keys, games. But, don't worry, AMD knows this, they know their sells are dependent partially on games as well as 3D modeling applications, so that means AMD is on our side for pushing for these kind of applications. I believe this is happening, too. Would not at all be surprised if there were talks between some of the game companies and AMD about Linux support.
Yes, but many also don't, and just mainly support the Linux game developers, and perhaps occasionally play some through Wine. After all, even if you use Wine to run a Windows game, the real importance is that you're running Linux (or Mac), what Bill doesn't want you to do, because it allows developers to more easily switch to developing for Linux (it's just a bit more difficult for them to find out).
Math in general seems to be susceptible to patents these days. Everyone should start informing their governments that just because laws can make it possible for one company to gain an extra advantage against the other doesn't mean that it's good for consumers or that it should be allowed. Companies would continue making graphics cards if their drivers and firmware were all open sourced and it would be helpful to consumers, not detrimental. Now days everyone seems to think in the context of "if there is a way company X can make more money, then it must be good". Since when can money be used to gauge morality? The best economy for consumers is one where they can get their goods at the lowest price, not one in which the government arms companies with anti-competitive weapons.
Everyone needs to complain to the corp that runs the site when they find silly pages like that. Something like...
"My browser is fully capable of displaying your content, but I am unable to do so due to your restricted access. Please tell your overlords to consider using web standards, and checking compatibility at www.w3.org, so that users of all browsers and OSes will have access."
Except replace "overloards" with whatever term best fits depending on your mood and the site, like monkeys, poopfaces, or ree-rees.
Or, instead of all that, just tell them to please inform their webmaster that it's no longer 1998.
No problem, I'm not supporting Novell anymore anyway. Yes, they are an open source company, so they have helped out the community greatly in many other regards, however, if they wanted to continue helping, then they shouldn't have signed that patent deal.
If Novell was serious about helping Linux and FOSS, they should have rejected getting on the patent train. Not only does it help legitimize software patents which shouldn't exist, but it's also a slap in the face to anyone not running their distro as you are only "protected" from Microsoft's patent racket if you use SLED/SLES and possibly Suse.
I'm for businesses which stand up against the concept of software patents and stand up against big companies which try to trample on something good. The GPL can only do so much against software patents, so it's up to us to voice our discontent with them, and it's up to companies to do the same.
Not to mention, I dislike how ridiculous all the things are which are granted software patents. Ooh, you changed your menu layout slightly? Congratu-fucking-lations, here's your patent.
And all that helps, but it doesn't ultimately solve one of the biggest IMO problems that Linux has, which is not having one really stable yet scalable ABI so that all the ridiculous distro-specific packaging mess can be avoided so that users are more free to use the distro of their choice, yet not have their program selection freedom be taken away from them. Everyone just needs that ABI to be created and then expanded upon over time as technology improvements require, that way the only real package supporting a distro will really want to do or have to do (unless they want to do more) to get the users of their distro the packages they want is in making sure they have what the ABI requires when it needs it, and in theory all the distros could use the exact same package repository if they wanted, and installing programs would be easy, and you'd start seeing lots of Linux apps on places like Download.com, and Linux will finally gain traction and support from companies across the board and the day of the Linux desktop may actually occur, all because having a single ABI that's nice and expandable will actually finally be supportable by companies wanting to support Linux. While compiling specific binaries for your specific install would still be possible, it will offer the ability for a solid place to be made so that companies to come together to better build upon Linux as a supported platform, and this extra feature/option for Linux users is not bad, because choice is good.
Yes, I like open source programs too, but that choice doesn't get taken away just because you decide that your platform can more easily run binaries. It gives everyone more choice. Everyone needs to give the open source movement more credit. It's about wanting freedom, and the success of Linux through some commercial software isn't going to take that want away, on the contrary. More Linux support means the whole world is all the more subjected to more open source projects, and the benefits of the open source operating system.
Currently, I don't see many other viable modes of distribution for Linux games other than either a) Sell Windows games and let people download Linux binaries on their own or b) supply Linux binaries inconspicuously on the CD. Linux-only packages are murder.
There's no harm in having a Linux box available for purchase on your website though. It's just a box, it's not expensive to have a pic of Tux on it and then only include the Linux version. If selling in stores though, I agree, would possibly be best to include Linux, Mac, and Windows versions in the same box. Of course, now days I'm sure Microsoft wouldn't allow it through some licensing BS. "If you're going to make it for Windows, you must advertise Windows Vista at the top with this logo, and no other competing OSes can be mentioned or allowed anywhere in or on the box."
Nice comment. It will just take time, but it all comes down to the fact that consumers don't want to be screwed over, it's that simple. As consumers start realizing they are getting screwed over (some of them are pretty slow in the head), they will start migrating to devices which let them do more, more freely.
Technology is supposed to get better and better as time goes on. I expected robots to be doing most of the work now days, but that didn't happen. The point is, things should get cheaper, and the features list should increase. Paying $0.50 for a ring tone isn't on the features list. Competition, do your thing please. (Takes long enough, would be really nice if the government would have stepped in and saved consumers billions of dollars like the EU did for them.)
Jaaksi admitted that concepts like these 'go against the open-source philosophy,' but said they were necessary components of the current mobile industry. 'Why do we need closed vehicles? We do,' he said.
Wow, they took the words right out of me, except, opposite. "Open cars" is something I've been thinking about for a long time, because I'm very sick and tired of being held at random by the auto makers. They are using the DMCA and a lack of standards to squeeze money out of consumers and auto body shops by taking over control of the interface with their on-board computers. By not having a standard computer interface like they used to, anyone, including auto shops, have to pay outrageous prices like $10,000 per year for a license for their proprietary software just to do the simplest things. This ranges from things like having a sensor go out, to simply disconnecting and reconnecting a wire (the computer is made to be too "dumb" to recheck the connection, so the "service engine soon" lights will stay on." No one can work on their own vehicles anymore.
Now is a great time to try to take back control from the auto makers and to undo this horrible scam that our government lets them get away with. You can't pick a more expensive shop to take your vehicle to than the dealership. Without competition, consumers are completely screwed, with a big pointy sharp pineapple. Demand open cars, everyone.
I know what you meant and I don't mean to nitpick, but I will any way.:)
"Irrational stereotypes" isn't redundant, it's a contradiction. They did a fine job of noticing those stereotypes, if not then the stereotypes wouldn't be stereotypes, and they just would have confused everyone. It's the treating of stereotypes and the speculation that follows them like absolute truths which isn't rational. So you could have just called it arguing with stereotypes and left it at that. You'll do better in the future, young grasshopper.
But back to the topic...if X's code could be cleaned up so it's not only neater but faster too, and allowed for more modular and easier programming for anyone wanting to contribute, that would be an excellent goal for X to set so that it could gain more traction for the future. Never give up on improving the system.
I think the main reason X doesn't get too much attention though is the fact that it works pretty darn well, well enough so that most of the attention falls on the apps placed on top of it.
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I'm not implying any fearfulness, and I respect your want to try to move on and make amends emotionally. If laughing is your way of emotionally dealing with a hardship even though you're sad inside, then so be it. All I'm saying is that it's still a tragedy. I know that certain things aren't good, and making fun of them not only boarders on a disrespect for those involved and who were negatively impacted, but I simply see it as childish and insensitive. If that's where your humor level is though, then so be it. I know tragedy though, and I find no reason to laugh at others when they go through it.
I just don't support negativity, and prefer the real reasons for being happy which don't involve making fun of others, which is apparently something unfelt by internet griefers for example. It's pretty sad when you feel you have to validate your importance by picking on others. Back in my day, it was called bullying.
Wow, I don't like dishonesty but that's a good point, and now both Opera and FF3 have full page zooming, though I'm sure Microsoft is going to try to adopt the same if they haven't already. =/
Not directed at you, but...
"Oh noes! They know about us making Quatro and GeForce cards the same but charging so much more for the Quatros! Maybe we'll actually have to start selling our cards honestly and based on their actual ability and quality!"
nVidia should be slapped for doing that, not that AMD/ATI is any better with their similar offerings I'm sure. Seriously, all this crap about "IP" and DRM, it's all a joke, they are merely weapons used by monopolies to abuse consumers. Everyone will be better off and technology will advance faster in an open source world where competition actually exists so crap like that won't happen (and if governments would get rid of foolish patent and copyright laws, too, IMO).
Probably Phoronix, as they already have the cards and are already testing them, even though the cards have yet to hit stores it seems. They're one of the few groups I've seen really trying to delve into benchmarking hardware and reporting it, and the test suite they've made is a pretty good starting point for doing benchmarks yourself.
They didn't talk much about this because they already have to some extent in other articles on their site. It wasn't a be-all end-all article, but one which adds onto earlier articles. You're right though that there are some questions left over even then. Right now it seems the open source drivers are rapidly catching up to the quality and features of the closed source one, but aren't there yet. It'd be perfectly happy with an open source driver which didn't include the DRM part, since that is potentially one issue, since I don't plan on running crap with DRM any way. Just makes the software seem totally lame to do stuff like that.
Agreed, I think Tux on the box is actually the best thing out of all this. Advertising is a huge help, because there are still a lot of people out there trapped on Windows machines and looking for ways out. Tux on the box sends a message across the industries, and that in turn will help convince the industries support Linux more.
I'm honestly actually really surprised that AMD is doing this. I thought Microsoft had such a stronghold on any kind of advertising that juggernauts like AMD who have to interoperate with Microsoft wouldn't be allowed to do so in some agreement somewhere. Perhaps though, in AMD's case, it's Microsoft that has to worry about interoperating with them and not so much vise versa.
Well, even if you go with Intel or nVidia, AMD having better Linux drivers adds more competition to help improve the products you buy at least.
I didn't know vibrators required gfx drivers, or is there one out that displays porn?
Hopefully your fedora and not that red one, as that'd be a waste of money.
Well Phoronix does a lot of Linux hardware benchmarking and reviewing, and said they are working on getting some data up on their site after they've had some time with the 4850 and 4870. Just annoying they can get hardware like that two weeks or so before it's in stores. :P
Yeah, wow, I never want to downgrade to Vista either. I've heard about this thing though...Linux, I think it's called. ;) Seriously tho, I'm also looking forward to different tearing issues being resolved. Compiz Fusion is usually pretty bad with that...
It's an upward spiral that will gain momentum. Even something as small as putting Tux on the box is a huge boon for Linux as it will help educate. All these things they are doing are certainly helpful, so yes, now we'll see how game developers will respond to this. There are quite a few rumblings here and there of Linux clients and support, some from some pretty big players, other than ID and their Quake Wars I mean.
Exactly, and Linux has been stuck in a catch 22 for a while, but signals like these to the industry sends ripples out all over the place. AMD supporting Linux properly means game developers are much more confident in providing Linux games, which means more hardware vendors want to support it, and the catch 22 begins moving in an upwards spiral.
That's one of the main keys, games. But, don't worry, AMD knows this, they know their sells are dependent partially on games as well as 3D modeling applications, so that means AMD is on our side for pushing for these kind of applications. I believe this is happening, too. Would not at all be surprised if there were talks between some of the game companies and AMD about Linux support.
Yes, but many also don't, and just mainly support the Linux game developers, and perhaps occasionally play some through Wine. After all, even if you use Wine to run a Windows game, the real importance is that you're running Linux (or Mac), what Bill doesn't want you to do, because it allows developers to more easily switch to developing for Linux (it's just a bit more difficult for them to find out).
Math in general seems to be susceptible to patents these days. Everyone should start informing their governments that just because laws can make it possible for one company to gain an extra advantage against the other doesn't mean that it's good for consumers or that it should be allowed. Companies would continue making graphics cards if their drivers and firmware were all open sourced and it would be helpful to consumers, not detrimental. Now days everyone seems to think in the context of "if there is a way company X can make more money, then it must be good". Since when can money be used to gauge morality? The best economy for consumers is one where they can get their goods at the lowest price, not one in which the government arms companies with anti-competitive weapons.
Everyone needs to complain to the corp that runs the site when they find silly pages like that. Something like...
"My browser is fully capable of displaying your content, but I am unable to do so due to your restricted access. Please tell your overlords to consider using web standards, and checking compatibility at www.w3.org, so that users of all browsers and OSes will have access."
Except replace "overloards" with whatever term best fits depending on your mood and the site, like monkeys, poopfaces, or ree-rees.
Or, instead of all that, just tell them to please inform their webmaster that it's no longer 1998.
No problem, I'm not supporting Novell anymore anyway. Yes, they are an open source company, so they have helped out the community greatly in many other regards, however, if they wanted to continue helping, then they shouldn't have signed that patent deal.
If Novell was serious about helping Linux and FOSS, they should have rejected getting on the patent train. Not only does it help legitimize software patents which shouldn't exist, but it's also a slap in the face to anyone not running their distro as you are only "protected" from Microsoft's patent racket if you use SLED/SLES and possibly Suse.
I'm for businesses which stand up against the concept of software patents and stand up against big companies which try to trample on something good. The GPL can only do so much against software patents, so it's up to us to voice our discontent with them, and it's up to companies to do the same.
Not to mention, I dislike how ridiculous all the things are which are granted software patents. Ooh, you changed your menu layout slightly? Congratu-fucking-lations, here's your patent.
And all that helps, but it doesn't ultimately solve one of the biggest IMO problems that Linux has, which is not having one really stable yet scalable ABI so that all the ridiculous distro-specific packaging mess can be avoided so that users are more free to use the distro of their choice, yet not have their program selection freedom be taken away from them. Everyone just needs that ABI to be created and then expanded upon over time as technology improvements require, that way the only real package supporting a distro will really want to do or have to do (unless they want to do more) to get the users of their distro the packages they want is in making sure they have what the ABI requires when it needs it, and in theory all the distros could use the exact same package repository if they wanted, and installing programs would be easy, and you'd start seeing lots of Linux apps on places like Download.com, and Linux will finally gain traction and support from companies across the board and the day of the Linux desktop may actually occur, all because having a single ABI that's nice and expandable will actually finally be supportable by companies wanting to support Linux. While compiling specific binaries for your specific install would still be possible, it will offer the ability for a solid place to be made so that companies to come together to better build upon Linux as a supported platform, and this extra feature/option for Linux users is not bad, because choice is good.
Yes, I like open source programs too, but that choice doesn't get taken away just because you decide that your platform can more easily run binaries. It gives everyone more choice. Everyone needs to give the open source movement more credit. It's about wanting freedom, and the success of Linux through some commercial software isn't going to take that want away, on the contrary. More Linux support means the whole world is all the more subjected to more open source projects, and the benefits of the open source operating system.
Currently, I don't see many other viable modes of distribution for Linux games other than either a) Sell Windows games and let people download Linux binaries on their own or b) supply Linux binaries inconspicuously on the CD. Linux-only packages are murder.
There's no harm in having a Linux box available for purchase on your website though. It's just a box, it's not expensive to have a pic of Tux on it and then only include the Linux version. If selling in stores though, I agree, would possibly be best to include Linux, Mac, and Windows versions in the same box. Of course, now days I'm sure Microsoft wouldn't allow it through some licensing BS. "If you're going to make it for Windows, you must advertise Windows Vista at the top with this logo, and no other competing OSes can be mentioned or allowed anywhere in or on the box."
Nice comment. It will just take time, but it all comes down to the fact that consumers don't want to be screwed over, it's that simple. As consumers start realizing they are getting screwed over (some of them are pretty slow in the head), they will start migrating to devices which let them do more, more freely.
Technology is supposed to get better and better as time goes on. I expected robots to be doing most of the work now days, but that didn't happen. The point is, things should get cheaper, and the features list should increase. Paying $0.50 for a ring tone isn't on the features list. Competition, do your thing please. (Takes long enough, would be really nice if the government would have stepped in and saved consumers billions of dollars like the EU did for them.)
Then, you grow up, and realize that car crashes actually aren't funny when someone gets hurt.
Jaaksi admitted that concepts like these 'go against the open-source philosophy,' but said they were necessary components of the current mobile industry. 'Why do we need closed vehicles? We do,' he said.
Wow, they took the words right out of me, except, opposite. "Open cars" is something I've been thinking about for a long time, because I'm very sick and tired of being held at random by the auto makers. They are using the DMCA and a lack of standards to squeeze money out of consumers and auto body shops by taking over control of the interface with their on-board computers. By not having a standard computer interface like they used to, anyone, including auto shops, have to pay outrageous prices like $10,000 per year for a license for their proprietary software just to do the simplest things. This ranges from things like having a sensor go out, to simply disconnecting and reconnecting a wire (the computer is made to be too "dumb" to recheck the connection, so the "service engine soon" lights will stay on." No one can work on their own vehicles anymore.
Now is a great time to try to take back control from the auto makers and to undo this horrible scam that our government lets them get away with. You can't pick a more expensive shop to take your vehicle to than the dealership. Without competition, consumers are completely screwed, with a big pointy sharp pineapple. Demand open cars, everyone.
Yeah, no, they aren't, see how funny it is to you when it's someone you care about.
I know what you meant and I don't mean to nitpick, but I will any way. :)
"Irrational stereotypes" isn't redundant, it's a contradiction. They did a fine job of noticing those stereotypes, if not then the stereotypes wouldn't be stereotypes, and they just would have confused everyone. It's the treating of stereotypes and the speculation that follows them like absolute truths which isn't rational. So you could have just called it arguing with stereotypes and left it at that. You'll do better in the future, young grasshopper.
But back to the topic...if X's code could be cleaned up so it's not only neater but faster too, and allowed for more modular and easier programming for anyone wanting to contribute, that would be an excellent goal for X to set so that it could gain more traction for the future. Never give up on improving the system.
I think the main reason X doesn't get too much attention though is the fact that it works pretty darn well, well enough so that most of the attention falls on the apps placed on top of it.