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Comment Re:For the rest of us... (Score 1) 94

And what should DNS clients do if you're staying in a country with an ISP where many DNS requests are getting poisoned? (Including those to 8.8.4.4 and root servers)

The obvious thing would be to set up a local recursive bind forwarder to forward to dnssec signed servers, that either is or are children of the root. But I've never done that before

Comment Re:Once again (Score 1) 346

The software loaded onto the Psystar machines were legally paid for.

Not exactly - the software was a modified derivative of what Psystar paid for. A derivative that was not allowed by the original licensor (Apple). Therefore this copy is illegal.

It's like taking GPL software, modifying it, distributing it and then not following the original licence agreement (that you must then distribute source code). That's why this case is such a big deal for FOSS. If Psystar win, GPL begins to be in trouble

Comment Re:Once again (Score 1) 346

Thank you for the good reference. And as many have been missing, the whole point here is that Psystar did here alter the goods in a material manner (by bypassing software restrictions that detect hardware). Maybe if they had just sold a machine with a Hypervisor to run an unmodified OSX they would be on more solid ground

Comment Re:Duh (Score 1) 346

What is the difference though? Lots of manufacturers like Dell use master copies to clone their PCs.

What you're suggesting is insane. The only difference is having to install everything manually on every computer, or just cloning the same bits and bytes. What's the difference as long as Apple got the same amount of money?

This very argument was tackled by Apple. The point is that Psystar made an illegal modified master copy, which they then went on to clone onto all their PCs. The difference is that Dell were entitled to make master copies since they had a licence from Apple to do so. IMO, it's somewhat analagous to taking a Windows install, sticking a pirate key on it, then cloning it to 1000 PCs. That you've then also provided a retail Windows package doesn't help you escape.

The law should not be stupid, but be interpreted according to common sense. If this is how it is, either this broken legal system needs further fixes, or we just need to stay away from proprietary software altogether - too much risk and arbitrary decisions in the hands of the wrong people..

The law is verbose, like a good computer program so that there is less ambiguity about what people think is common sense. Agree that sticking to FOSS will get you in less trouble

Comment Re:The first thing that came to mind... (Score 1) 333

To be fair to them, the Dell employee purchase scheme does say that it's discount is applicable *on top of* any pre-existing sale discount. They just make it hard to find - when you go through the EPP site, they hide all the "regular" discounts

This didn't stop me from purchasing this Dell Studio I'm typing on, having received -£300 from the regular offer and a further 5% off via the EPP. Make use of it!

Comment Re:i can totally see this happeining (Score 1) 452

Patient: I've been farting a lot lately. They are always silent and do not smell but it causes my skirt to move and I'm embarrassed that people are noticing. Is this something you can help me with?

Doctor: Take one of these pills every day and see me next week

- 1 week passes

Patient: I'm afraid my farts haven't stopped. And not they've started smelling horribly!

Doctor: Right, that's your nose fixed. Now for something for your ears...

The Almighty Buck

Is Free Really the Future of Gaming? 230

TRNick writes "Is the future of gaming more or less free, perhaps funded by advertising or micropayments? A bunch of MMOs have pioneered the way, and now they are being followed by the likes of EA, Sony and id Software, each of which is offering some form of free gaming. But it's not just the big guys. TechRadar talks to a new generation of indie developers who are making names for themselves. 'I make most of my money from sponsors,' says one. 'We're all here because we love making games first and foremost,' says another. But can free games ever make enough money to fund the really ambitious, event games that get the headlines?" While paid games aren't likely to be on their way out any time soon, more and more developers and publishers are experimenting with cheaper pricing, and the results so far seem positive.
Caldera

Submission + - Darl takes the stand in Novell v SCO

UnknowingFool writes: "Everyone's favorite CEO Darl McBride took the stand on Wednesday April 30 in Novell v. SCO. Chris Brown has posted his account on Groklaw of the 2nd day of trial. The first day's account can be found here. To refresh your memory in this ongoing case, Judge Kimball has already ruled that Novell owns the copyrights to Unix and has practically dismissed all of SCO's claims. This portion of the trial is about Novell's counterclaims that SCO never paid them the money from the Sun and MS deals. What is to be determined in this trial is how much of the money from the deals were for Unix licensing (SVRx) and how much were for SCO's server technology (Unixware).

Reading the account, it seems that the SCO folks are currently trying to delicately separate Unixware and SVRx. However Novell's lawyers are quickly pointing out in the past where SCO made no distinction between SVRx and Unixware in their literature or press releases. In day 1's account, SCO's tree picture shows Unix as SCO IP (Unix).

Also SCO's position is that it owes Novell nothing because the deals to MS and Sun were Unixware deals and not SCOSource deals (the much despised Linux licensing program) or SVRx deals. Novell points out fatal flaws in SCO's arguments. Sun wanted the ability to open source some of their Solaris code (which became OpenSolaris). Solaris and Unixware both branched from SVR4 so they would need permission from the owner of SVRx copyrights, not the Unixware owner. That owner is Novell. The MS deal is a little different in that MS wanted Unixware rights AND rights to legacy Unix (SVRx).

The best part of the cross-examination was Darl refusing to admit that the MS and Sun deals were not SCOSource, but Novell showing SCO's financial statements (10Q) where both deals were listed under SCOSource and not Unixware revenue."
Perl

BBC Creates 'Perl on Rails' 216

Bogtha writes "Long-time users of Perl for their public websites, and having successfully used Ruby on Rails for internal websites, the BBC have fused the two by creating a 'Perl on Rails' that has the advantages of rapid development that Rails brings, while performing well enough to be used for the Beeb's high-traffic public websites. This is already powering one of their websites, and is set to be used in the controversial iPlayer project as well."

Hiring (Superstar) Programmers 570

Ross Turk wrote, "We've been looking for senior engineers to work on SourceForge.net for a while now, and it's been a lot more difficult than it was a few years ago. Has the tech market improved so much that working on a prominent website is no longer enough to attract the best talent? Is everyone else running into the same problems, or is it just here in the Valley and other high-tech corridors?" This is a question that I've seen coming in a lot; the economy has not picked up everywhere — so how are other people handling this? Going outside the traditional Valley/Route 128 corridors? Outsourcing? And how do you find people — beyond just using job boards? (Full disclosure: That's our job board thingie, as you probably have figured out.) Or do job boards alone work? Some people have been swearing up and down that CraigsList works — and there's always something to be said for nepotism.

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