This problem was solved waaaay back in 1996 by the IETF in RFC 1924.

I recall that scene being widely made fun of following the film's release, in part because of that very interface.

The other potential benefit to Valve is higher game performance. Remember all those reports about framerates improving just by switching to Linux? You have to look at it from Valve's perspective. The PC game market is a small fraction of the console video game market. Here's what consoles offer:
-guaranteed compatibility
-low system maintenance
-general ease-of-use
-single-screen multiplayer for social/casual games ("couch use")
-simple software distribution and installation

Valve has already taken care of that last one, and figured a customized PC OS could take care of the others while adding the advantages of a PC platform, primarily:
-greater hardware capability
-upgradeable components
-software flexibility and user control

The key to "couch use" is a controller, and I'm sure Valve considers this essential to making non-console games work in a console-like environment, hence the delay while trying to get it right. Once enough games are ported and the controller is done, I think the machine has a valid shot at success. After all, we've been seeing consoles adopt more "PC functionality" over the last 10 years with web browsers, media players, Netflix-type video streaming, etc. Valve just figured they could succeed if they made a device that could run their games and removed the last few restrictions of consoles. The ability to stream from a Windows PC is just icing on the cake.

Hey now, don't you go insulting Microsoft Bob that way; its interface made sense! Each room was a logical collection of programs, customizable with objects you could add that represented applications. It was customizable, the groupings were logically connected (rooms in a house are an easy-to-grasp metaphor), the theme of the room corresponded to the type of applications present (parlor, office, etc.), and once launched the applications ran as normal.

Plus there was that adorable dog!

The only problem with Bob was that it was just a glorified launcher, not really different to Program Manager with groups titled "Accessories", "Games", "Productivity", etc., so there wasn't much point to it.

To be more clear, what GP was saying was that although some games do run natively on Linux, Steam OS achieves maximum utility by streaming games from a Windows machine. That's why it's not already widely in use, because its usefulness is limited by needing another capable machine with Windows (which all current Steam users already have). Once the controller is done and more games are ported, the whole package will make a lot more sense. However, the OS does in fact function and it does the things it's designed to do, it just hasn't yet reached its full potential.

The hands on the clock as I'm waiting for Monday to end...

Ugh. Slashdot fail. I am so smart. S-M-R-T.

Anyway, to illustrate the above, image a Venn diagram with two circles, the left one being "Deliberate attempt to elicit angry response (trolling)", and the one on the right is "Likely to cause a flamewar (flamebait)". There is some overlap, which on Slashdot could be modded either way, but flamebait that's not trolling is either naivety or sincerity, and trolling that's not flamebait isn't necessarily intended to start a heated argument between other parties.

Sometimes the difference between Troll and Flamebait is impossible to determine, as it depends on the intent of the author. If someone posts on Slashdot saying "Mac sucks", it would be trolling if the primary reason they posted it was to get a rise out of people. If, however, they have used Mac computers and genuinely hate them, then it may not be disingenuous, and therefore is not trolling, but it is still flamebait since it's inciting yet another Mac vs. PC vs. Linux holy war.

So the GP is correct in that deliberate flamebait is a form of trolling, but there are instances of flamebait where someone didn't specifically intend to get a reaction, but nevertheless posted something controversial in a confrontational way that is likely to elicit hostile responses (usually out of naiveté).

(AC to preserve mods)

Oblig YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSy5mEcmgwU

Fun idea for a Linux distro: include multiple desktop environments and randomly pick one at startup. I used to have KDE, GNOME, and XFCE all installed together on an old dinosaur of a laptop, and you could select one at login time. It mostly worked.

Correction, QHD is 2560x1440.

I'm with you on the term "4K". I can't believe Slashdotters are complicit in this marketing nonsense. There's nothing "4,000" about it. We've been using lines as shorthand for display resolution for quite some time now, and it makes zero sense to switch to columns now, and it isn't even 4K columns.

Resolution: 3840x2160
Pixels: 8.3M

1280x720 is 720p/HD
1920x1080 is 1080p/FHD (Full HD)
2160x1440 is QHD (Quad HD)

Therefore 3840x2160 should be 2160p, QFHD, UHD, or 2K. 4K is utter nonsense. Calling it "Mega 8.3" would even be better.

It's like if Chevrolet said the new Corvette Z06 made over 1200 HP, because they started measuring torque in half-foot-pounds.

Yeah, I guess we currently have the tech to freeze eggs & sperm indefinitely, so that would solve that. I don't think you'd need the nanobots, regular macro-scale robots could handle it with prefab components and equipment.

*sigh*
I should really start reading all the links in the comments I'm responding to.

That story's basically about what I described in my 2nd and 3rd paragraphs. Looks good, I'll have to check it out.

Heck, you could describe a fetus developing in the womb as 3D printing - you're feeding raw materials into a biological device that essentially prints itself.

The author of the article isn't about transferring consciousness, so "all you need" is a way to to encode the genome (doable), a way to transmit this encoding (also doable), a way to construct artificially a zygote using this genetic information (uh...), and then an artificial womb a la The Matrix to gestate the embryo. Also robots to raise the child and teach him why he's there and what his mission is.

You could build a robotic interstellar exploration craft containing all the information and supplies needed to jumpstart a human population on any given planet, essentially creating an initial group of standard clones. This could be a good basis for a sci-fi story if it isn't already. I may even use it as the premise for that video game I'll never get around to writing.