I'd prefer Betan dollars over Barrayaran marks. Beta Colony seems like a much more interesting place to visit (and not just because of the Orb of Unearthly Delights, though that's a big factor).

That might be a valid point if we weren't talking about Hawaii!

Christmas was created to celebrate the birth of Christ. (While it's certainly not his birthday, that is, nonetheless, an accurate and reasonable description.) Those of us who are not Christian but still celebrate Christmas, though, are clearly not celebrating the birth of Christ.

Heck, a lot of people who are only vaguely Christian probably celebrate it for some of the other reasons that LongearedBat mentioned, and not just because it's a celebration of the birth of Christ. Recent surveys in the UK revealed that while a strong majority consider themselves to belong to a religion, a much smaller number consider themselves religious.

You don't have to believe that watery tarts distributing swords constitutes a valid form of government (or whatever it is that the Christians believe--I don't track it all that closely) to believe that all the lights and decorations and exchanging gifts is fun. The Jews may scrupulously avoid celebrating Christmas, but Atheists, Buddhists, and Shintoists, among others, have no such qualms.

I think that's as bad of an oversimplification as the original thesis. But it certainly raises an important issue the submitter seems to be ignoring. For a highly modularized system, a lack of contributions to particular modules may well simply indicate that those modules are mature and don't need a lot of additional contributions any more. To really get a feel for the health of the overall ecosystem, you have to take a broader view.

If it claims to be lightweight, it can only do so as a DE, not a WM. Ihave lightweight WMs, and E isn't one of them. As a DE, though, yeah, sorta. It's pretty comparable to XFCE, and with a lot more eye candy. Unfortunately, E17 also had a lot less stability. I also dislike the tendency in most themes (including the default one) to omit side borders on windows. I know that's something some people are into, and it's seen on WindowMaker as well, but I've never cared for it. It doesn't fit well with sloppy-focus/no-autoraise, which I consider non-negotiable.

E is pretty, though. But E17 also has a lot less eye candy than E13 did (although it's noticably smaller and faster). I realize that E13 was slow and unmaintainable, but wow could it look awesome!

And other WMs have been catching up on the eye candy too. Heck, even good ol' FVWM (an actual lightweight WM) has eye candy options I never would have imagined ten years ago.

It's a technology demo created by techies. And now you want a (good) plot as well? You should just be thankful it isn't about Harry Potter defeating Darth Vader! :)

Bah, "real geeks/nerds" use vi or emacs, neither of which requires rodentary attachments.

My mechanical Logitech lasted fifteen years (just died earlier this year), and yes, I had a cat the whole time. For that matter, I only bothered to clean it out about four times during that period, because it kept working just fine without for the most part.

Logically, I'd expect optical mice to last longer, but so far my evidence for the claim is nil... ;)

Really? 'Cause my old Logitech roller-ball just died after fifteen years! (I'm now on my second mouse, so I'm not sure how qualified I am to participate in this poll.) Yeah, I had to clean it out every three or four years or it would get jerky, but I think it lasted long enough to justify what I spent on it.

I hope you're right though, since I now have an optical mouse. I'll get back to you in 2029... ;)

Indeed. Anyone who actually thinks I'm running Mosiac v42.0 is probably very confused! ;)

Links is better! So there, nyah! ;)

(But actually, I prefer W3M to both.)

Oh, and kermit is what you were supposed to use to connect *to* that dialup ksh account. ;)

It's win-win for me. I have a prediction on file with the James Randi Foundation saying that the Supremes will agree to hear a software patent case this year (done, now), and that they will decide it on overly narrow grounds. If I'm right, I'm one step closer to winning the million dollar prize for my psychic powers, and if I'm wrong, well, my day job gets that much easier. :)

You're confusing ideologies. Someone's position on the right or left is not going to have any bearing on their ideological positions about patents, because patents aren't a right/left issue. It's a different type of ideology. A more idiosyncratic ideology. But an ideology nonetheless.

(Actually, I shouldn't say left/right, because dem/rep doesn't break down that way, but I'm simplifying for the sake of clarity.)

That said, because this isn't tied to their political allegiances, they may all be more inclined to listen to the arguments rather than pre-emptively voting with their preconceptions. Not guaranteed, but much more likely than in some cases.

We traditionally refer to the dishwasher as a robot in my family. (Of course, I come from a long line of science fiction fans.)

Heh, comments like this are why I haven't given up on Slashdot completely! :)