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Submission + - Why Was Linux The Kernel That Succeeded? (thevarguy.com) 2

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: One of the most puzzling questions about the history of free and open source software is this: Why did Linux succeed so spectacularly, whereas similar attempts to build a free or open source, Unix-like operating system kernel met with considerably less success? Christopher Tozzi has rounded up some theories, focusing specifically on kernels, not complete operating systems. These theories take a detailed look at the decentralized development structure, pragmatic approach to things, and the rich developer community, all of which worked in favor of Linux.

Submission + - GOG Announces Open Beta For New Game Platform (gog.com)

Submitted by Donaithnen
Donaithnen writes: Like many geeks I'm against the idea of DRM in general and have championed GOG.com's DRM-free approach to selling games online. Yet like many geeks I've also often succumbed to the temptation of Steam because of the convenience of tracking, installing, and playing my PC game purchases through the launcher, the compulsion of collecting achievements, and the OCD-ness of (and occasional dismay from) tracking the total playtime for my favorite games. Now GOG has announced the open beta for GOG Galaxy, an entirely optional launcher to allow those who want (and only those who want) to have all the same features when playing GOG games.

Comment Re:Single shop most likely (Score 1) 323

Daz loader. All anyone ever needs. I've slic modded my share of BIOSes too, but ever since EFI it's just less hassle to use the loader, and it works 100% of the time.

Daz Loader is good, but it does not support UEFI installations, because of the GPT partition format.

What comes to OEM installations, with some trickery there is also a possibility to feed the BIOS SLIC key to Windows Software Licensing Management Tool. This allows to install without an OEM-specific installation media, and it's also legal as you're using the legitimate key from the sticker.

Submission + - Twitter Puts Stop To Playing DOS Games Inside Tweets 1

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Twitter has killed off an interesting trend of playing DOS games in tweets. Just last week, users discovered they could take advantage of the new "Twitter Cards" embedding feature to bundle full DOS games within tweets. Running DOSBox inside the web browser is possible thanks to an Emscripten port of DOSBox called Em-DOSBox. The games were pulled from Internet Archive's collection of 2,600 classic titles, many of which still lack proper republishing agreements with the copyright holder. So is embedding interactive media, and specifically games, within Twitter Cards, against the social network's terms of service. Twitter has now blocked such activity, likely after seeing the various news reports and a stream of Street Fighter II, Wolfenstein 3D and Zool cheering up people's timelines.

Submission + - Spurious IP Address Used To Continuously Activate Windows 7 (torrentfreak.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A presumed pirate with an unusually large appetite for activating Windows 7 has incurred the wrath of Microsoft. In a lawsuit filed at a Washington court, Microsoft said that it logged hundreds of suspicious product activations from a single Verizon IP address and is now seeking damages. Who he, she or they are behind address 74.111.202.30 is unknown at this point, but according to Microsoft they're responsible for some serious Windows pirating. "As part of its cyberforensic methods, Microsoft analyzes product key activation data voluntarily provided by users when they activate Microsoft software, including the IP address from which a given product key is activated," the lawsuit reads. The company says that its forensic tools allow the company to analyze billions of activations of software and identify patterns "that make it more likely than not" that an IP address associated with activations is one through which pirated software is being activated.

Submission + - Microsoft Office 2016 Public Preview Released

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Back in March, Microsoft made Office 2016, the next release of the company's leading office suite, available to IT professionals to test and submit feedback on. At Microsoft's Ignite conference, CEO Satya Nadella announced that the public preview of Office 2016 has now been released as well. Office 2016 comes with a range of new features that build upon Office 2013. There is far more integration with cloud, allowing a user to access documents anywhere, and Outlook now syncs with OneDrive when sending large files. So called Smart Applications extend the functionality of Office, including Tell Me, a new search tool, and Clutter, which unclutters your inbox based on machine learning. Anyone can start testing the free Office 2016 Preview right now. Just as they have done with Windows 10, Microsoft is receiving open feedback on the product.

Submission + - Ubuntu 15.04 Received Very Well by Linux Community

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Canonical released Ubuntu 15.04 a couple of weeks ago, and it seems that this release has been a success. The community is mostly reporting a nice experience, which is important since this is the first Ubuntu release that uses systemd instead of upstart. In Slashdot, people have been very nervous about systemd, and last year it was even asked to say at least something nice about it. To be fair, Ubuntu 15.04 hasn't changed all that much. Some minor visual changes have been implemented, along with a couple of new features, but the operating system has remained pretty much the same. Most importantly it is stable, fast, and it lacks the usual problems accompanied by new releases.

Comment Re:Mozilla's made mistakes, but people exaggerate (Score 1) 240

by jones_supa (#49605835) Attached to: Chrome Passes 25% Market Share, IE and Firefox Slip

For instance Chrome and Internet Explorer are both proprietary applications. And before you get on me about Chrome not being proprietary I wouldn't consider any program which includes non-free bits free software.

Who cares? Even Firefox is developed by a tight group of developers who can pour anything in the absolutely massive codebase. I don't think there is any practical difference between free and non-free. That something is proprietary does not automatically mean that the makers want to screw you. I don't know why that attitude is so widespread in Slashdot. Both parties, free and non-free, strive to create a product that works for the users.

Comment Re:Not when they are as crappy as Unity (Score 1) 125

by jones_supa (#49600921) Attached to: Should Developers Still Pay For Game Engines?

It will help prevent your game from having a generic feel.

It's interesting that you point that out. I have also noticed that I can put my finger on some games and know that they have been made with Unity. For example, The Long Dark or Shelter. Great games but there's the certain "Unity feel" in them. I'm not completely sure what makes it. :)

Comment Re:Oh come on. (Score 2) 250

by jones_supa (#49600159) Attached to: Long Uptime Makes Boeing 787 Lose Electrical Power
I am not completely familiar with the matter, but I remember hearing that using signed types in some situations can be a better choice, even when the value would normally be used to represent only a non-negative value. It could make overflows more obvious and calculating deltas might be easier? If someone actually knows about this stuff, feel free to chime in.

Submission + - Long Uptime Makes Boeing 787 Lose Electrical Power 1

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: A dangerous software glitch has been found in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. If the plane is left turned on for 248 days, it will enter a failsafe mode that will lead to the plane losing all of its power, according to a new directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration. If the bug is triggered, all the Generator Control Units will shut off, leaving the plane without power, and the control of the plane will be lost. Boeing is working on a software upgrade that will address the problems, the FAA says. The company is said to have found the problem during laboratory testing of the plane, and thankfully there are no reports of it being triggered on the field.

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