To be worthwhile, something like this has to be the first; the best; unique.

This is none of those.

... the gods themselves, contend in vain. The first time I heard of this, my instant thought was that it was utter stupidity to connect any industrial process to the Internet. Since then, every comment I've heard or seen from every source follows the same idea, so why is anyone still doing it?

The cost argument really doesn't fly. Can you imagine the firestorm of compensation claims when (not if) the first major disaster takes place?

Agree totally. Openbox on the very thinnest layer of X, and ROX as the filer.

It all depends on how much real imagination you've got. I designed a text adventure many years ago for the BBC Model B. Doors were based on reality. Some opened inwards, some outwards, some had locks (and you had to get the right key). The nasty ones would swing shut behind you and you'd find there was no handle on the inside.

There were, of course a host of appropriate messages :)

What is far more important is that you have a game plan, room list, alternative routes/actions, and most important of all an objective.

There sure are a lot of jealous people on /. these days :(

... was not telling him to bugger off 43 yeasrs ago. That was in 1971. As a trainee I was working on aligning servo motor controls in 1967 - it used them thar new-fangled transisitor things {bloody wickless wonders}

I thought they were talking about politicians at first ... all of them.

See it while you can. If the 'managers' of the Bletchly Park Trust get their way, Colossus and the National Meuseum of Computing will soon be made homeless. Sounds a lot like the /. situation doesn't it?

This is actually quite interesting. We have now moved from 'everyone knows' to someone has actually spelled it out.

There are a lot of ordinarly people out there who are not in the 'everyone' category and may now become aware of this.

Indeed so, added to "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"

The only thin g that happening is they are weakening their own credibiklity (what's left of it) by their continued transparent lies, deceit and attempts to cover their tracks.

Anyone with a little empathy.

...from Amazon and Disney

Yet anyother reason not to patronise either.

Done, in spite of all the FUD and backstabbing. Nobody can now say (with any credibility) that it can't be done for a 'large' oganisation. I especially like that Munich never tried to cover up difficulties they had during the process, but instead calmly adjusted and compensated.

Really really impressed with this project, and now Munich truly owns their data unlike any other government.

I think you would find it difficult these days to find an OS that could not meet your requirements. However, any software package requires practice (lots of it) to get the most out of it. If the O/P is familiar and comfortable with Linux then why change? Audacity was a good choice for the O/P as a starter, as it has a shallow learning curve. Ardour will do much more (including very valuable non-destructive editing) but will take some time to get to grips with. The version coming out soon will also have extensive MIDI capabilities.

If the O/P is going down the road of keyboard instruments, he/she can save an enormous amount of money and buy a dumb keyboard then link to one of the many excellent free soft-synths - more learning of course, so maybe stick to the accoustic material first then gradually bring in other stuff. A recipe for disaster is to try and do it all at once.

The bottom line is that you don't need a lot of expensive hardware and software to produce first class results, but you do need to know how to make the best use of what you have and, most important of all, you need to develop you musical abilites as far as possible. I have heard astonishingly good music produced on the simplest of kit, and utter rubbish using top-line professional stuff.