Because you have no right to control it.

Actually, I do. The Government grants me that right. It's called Copyright. :)

Hypothetical - If I'm an independent game developer who relies on game purchases to finance myself to make future games, what do you expect me to do? I still would like to make games because I enjoy it, but if I am not allowed to make an income by selling the games because I have no right to control the distribution, then I have to get a day job and code in my free time. This might result in fewer games or games with less polish/depth due to a lack of time/energy. But if I can sell the games, I can finance myself and work on them as a full time business. I have see extremely few FOSS games that reach the quality of even paid indie games (they exist, just not many).

Basically, I just see your ideal as nice, but hopelessly idealistic. It will never work due to the inherent desire of humans to want credit and recognition for what they create, which in modern times often enough means money. And when you think about it, that's quite fair.

Anyway, I doubt we'll see eye to eye on this, but thank you for taking the time to explain your position. I do appreciate reading other people's viewpoints even if I personally see them as unworkable. From a personal standpoint I'm currently working to reduce my pirated content to zero as soon as is feasible. I already have a lot of paid/FOSS software and know of a lot of legal places to obtain music/shows/etc that are also given away for free, so I'm OK. You might consider me a fool for taking these steps when it's so easy to get pirated content of the highest quality (and you wouldn't be the only one), but I believe such measures have side benefits as well, plus it's the only way I remain morally at peace.

Your position is unrealistic because you don't provide an alternative method for people to make money from information. You just say "well the old way of making money from information hasn't kept up with technology - let's just abolish all the protections that have existing up to this point". It's crackpot because you're pointing out the problems without a tangible alternative that people can work with.

You will never be able to convince someone who wants to sell their music, software or other content they have created, that they don't have a right to want to distribute the information THEY CREATED under their own rules of distribution. Just because it's easy to pirate doesn't make it morally sound to take what's not yours. The content creator has no right to expect they'll succeed in making money off what they created though - but just because people can take their stuff for free doesn't make it right.

That's why it will remain a crackpot idea unless you stop with this "I think says far more about you than it does me" bullshit and address that missing fact - WHY I should give up the information just because it's easy to do so.

He assured me that my Ph.D. would not be revoked

Uh, uh. But now the DHS knows what he did...

Allan Scherr: [holds up his doctorate] Ph.D immunity!

[DHS slowly rolls its head on its neck, takes aim, and fires - his bullet goes through Allan's wallet, and then his head]

DHS: It's just been revoked!

This is why I love coming to Slashdot. It's full of idealistic people you won't hear anyone else fantasize about a world that just won't exist, and yet they never stop to realize how unrealistic their position is. We're living in the information age - of course people want to control it; if information were free, who'd make money off of it? You can't communication a position like this without coming off as some crackpot or idiot who just wants pirated material. Just because copyright and patents are abused doesn't mean their original purpose isn't without merit.

I believe a balance needs to be set such that we can reward the producers of said content fairly, without ripping them off and without them ripping us off. It's the only ideal which would be fair and make reasonable sense to everyone.

Two questions: (1) Are you within the US? (2) Did you have any Google-related cookies present on your system? (including Google subdomains like YouTube, etc.)

(1) Australia (thank God)
(2) Nope. I cleared all cookies/cache before doing this.

And since new Google account users are reportedly now forced to join Google+

Not quite. There are ways to create a Google account without Google+ being tacked on.

For example, if you go to http://mail.google.com/mail/signup and create a Gmail account, it will automatically make a Google account as part of the process (of course). However using the above link does NOT automatically create a Google+ account. I know this because I did so yesterday, as I specifically wanted to make a new Google account without G+.

Of course, you need to know this either through research or someone telling you beforehand. All other ways of creating a Google account seem to force G+ unfortunately. Google sucks sometimes.

Why would I? I work in a wonderful job, yet I'm leave in Europe. Did you have something to say? :)

I've noticed a few things from all the news footage available of Kim Jong-Il:

1. Kim is generally doing one of three things: pointing/gesturing at something, watch someone pointing/gesturing at something, or clapping. Never speaking, never doing something actually interesting.

2. People in North Korea LOVE clapping for some reason. All the political footage involving Kim tends to involve a shitload of clapping. If the leader is clapping at something, everyone else is that's for sure. Maybe everyone's really happy over there?

Either the guy has never bothered to speak on camera, or the regime was afraid he'd say something stupid.

Is Windows THAT GOOD so the purpose of all those GUIs are to become a perfect copy of it ?

Actually, it IS that good. I've always thought Windows XP managed to obtain a very nice interface that allowed efficient window, program and file management. Windows 7 just added extra stuff but still kept the basics because if it works well, why rock the boat? Linux doesn't have to be totally different in GUI - GNOME 3 and Unity should be enough evidence that trying something different for the sake of change isn't necessarily going to work out well.

So, checking it under Views-Toolbars did not work?

There is no native status bar toolbar anymore. There's the "Add-on bar", which addons can use if they want (such as Status-4-Evar), but without said extension the add-on bar is just a horizontal bar of nothing.

I run bleeding edge ARCH

It's hard enough to support Linux sometimes and you're running a bleeding edge distro? That kinda means you should be accepting of the fact you've made yourself more difficult to target than a more typical distro like Ubuntu or Mint.

Well if you're one of the newer generation of technically fragile Linux users who can't handle a few .run/.tar.gz files that use statically-linked libraries anyway so you don't have to worry about dependencies, be patient...

http://twitter.com/#!/humble/status/146833629279043584

(yes that was a troll, but at least I gave some info in it. I guess I just can't believe people using Linux can't handle non-package software, particularly since you're finally getting some decent games for a change).

Black Mesa

Big deal. I'm a physicist. If the shit hits the fan just give me a gun and a crowbar and I'll take care of things. Don't worry about firearms training either - as a physicist in a desperate situation I'll magically obtain amazing combat skills that go beyond what the US Marines are even capable of, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

So basically, we're heading for the wall.

I'm not naive enough to believe that things will somehow magically get better and human nature will finally suppress its ugly side for the betterment of mankind (and the world), but at the same time I refuse to believe the end is nigh. It's not natural to believe that nothing will get better, and to give up, to me, basically reminds me of the film "Children of Men". If you have it set in your head The idea that the future is doomed not too far away, well then screw having a life, screw having children or getting married. What's the point if there's no chance of things processing as a species. It's awfully depressing, and so I don't subscribe to the idea that we won't find some way out of this mess. Only because if what you say is try, then who the fuck cares anymore.