Never said it was Java's fault, it's just that in C/C++ the type of a reference/pointer to something is syntactically different than the type of a value to the same thing:

C c(...);

C *c = new C(...);

this makes Java responsible for blurring the distinction maybe a bit too much; if have you ever discussed programming with someone who started coding in Java, then you know what I mean :)

PS: I love Java and its sibling, C#, so don't get me wrong!

Ha! There's a mistake coming from the Java culture of our days. In C/C++ (and indeed in .Net) there is a difference between value and reference, and an object is not the same as a reference to that object. This said, the reference is actually capable of acting transparently as a proxy to the object itself, but this does not make it identical to the object (indeed, they even have different types!).

The particular idiocy of the above poster is that he is thinking about aliases (references, pointers, however you want to call them). Philosophers are simply stating that in something like C/C++, you cannot write:
struct T {
T has_A;
};

Adding driver versions to system requirements would be ridiculous. Needs Nvidia Driver Version X on Nvidia Card Version Y?

3D graphics and shaders would be highly compatible in *nix?

Have you ever tried porting even a trivial 3d application that makes use of advanced features and seen it halting to a crawl or nor working properly on the right hardware because driver support was a mess? I have (gamedev here), and it's not pretty.

Google Earth is really beautiful. And really pointless. With trees it's even more beautiful. And even more pointless.

Bah.

...no official figures, no official declarations, no after-holiday-season data, no actual news.

I understand this is slashdot, but come on. Criticism sticks better if it is documented, otherwise it's just another form of shilling.

Coding your own game might be a good analogy: I don't like the game made or the conditions associated with playing it so I rolled out my own, but obtaining it illegally is not related to "learning some medicine" or "building your own ferrari".

Also keep in mind that no matter what, gaming is something you do to enrich your life, not to survive. It is ridiculous that people are so self-entitled to everything they *like*, not even *need*, that they do not accept that it is the publisher and the developer of the game who rightfully set price and rules for their product and if those conditions are found unacceptable you simply don't buy and play the game. What the fuck, the message you guys are sending is "I want it, but I don't want to pay for it, so I will take it if I can"? Really, if this is what educated and civilized people reason then we are in shit neck-high.

You don't read too, apparently. IT DEPRIVES THEM OF THE VALUE OF THEIR TIME.

When I play a game, read a book or watch a movie, my existence gets a tad richer. I experience alternate worlds and interesting personal tales (to a degree) and this is something very valuable. Producing a coherent world is a very costly enterprise, one that requires lots of time and effort and talent. Generalize your dumb argument and imagine that nobody pays for ANY of these goods. Then NOBODY will produce them anymore because their value goes to zero, apart from amateur productions with unbalanced storylines and awful art and effects. Really, is this so hard to understand?

On a side note, your dumb argument implies that doctors should work for free (well, if you don't pay the doctor you aren't really stealing from you, are you?), architects too, engineers, software developers, teachers, etc. Really?

Neural implants? :)

When will people learn? The important things about teaching are, in order:
the willingness of the student to put time and effort in learning
the intelligence of the student with respect to the particular subject
the interest and ability of the teacher
the tools used to teach

Blackboard and chalk have been fine for decades and replacing those is simply not as important.

...larger pipes cost more to maintain :)

After 25 years? I'm having trouble getting the point of this story...

Would be even cooler if we could have similar computer inside CELLPHONES!!! Oh, wait...