I started using Ubuntu 10.10 - I now run 12.04, so I've gone through several upgrades. Aside from a few hours of having to get used to unity, which I like, my upgrades have been painless.

I recently built a new system, with an OCZ SSD drive, 2x4TB SATAs, 32gig of RAM, Intel i7 proc and Asus maximus v extreme MB and Asus 570GTX video card. When I built this new system, my 12.04 install was fast and worked right out of the box, I installed the x-swat nvidia drivers and aside from installing a few apps and a tweak or 2 I have come to enjoy, I was done. The entire install took less than an hour.

As I also play video games, I installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64. It took an hour for the automated portion of the install to complete, it didn't recognize my USB3.0, kept dropping my mouse and keyboard, didn't find my WiFi NIC, locked up and crashed regularly even after I finally got SP1 installed. It took me the better part of a morning to get my machine stable, nearly 4 hours of continuous work, DL's, reboots, etc. Even after all that I still had nothing but the OS installed, no productivity software or email - I spent a further hour installing the basic stuff needed to be able to use the system for anything productive (like reading my email).

I am sorry if this seems like some sort of anti-Windows rant, that isn't my intent. I would classify myself as a long-time computer user. I do photography, webdev and some other computer intensive activities. This is just my experience, others people's may be quite different.

I began using Microsoft operating systems in the late 1980's. I used them every single day that I used a computer until about a year ago when I decided to give Ubuntu a try.

I now use Ubuntu every single day I use a computer, I do reboot occasionally to use Windows for games, aside from that I do not use Windows at all.

The only shortcomings I have come across is my dependence upon Photoshop (yes, I now run PS in wine) and that of my games. Aside from that, every other thing for which my computer is used, Ubuntu just works, and does works with more stability that Windows has ever shown in more than 2 decades of use.

So when you say "runs circles around those same offerings on Linux" I will have to disagree, in fact, that statement is only partially true under some circumstances for specific applications, the exception rather than the rule. As a Linux n00b, I have more stability, better response, less overhead and an all around better experience than Windows.

You seem more cynical than usual today :)

I partially agree with you, I think they pushed out rather far, there isn't any doubt the book is not a bottle of sour mash, I think that is why they are so polite about it. However, JD's point is to keep their brand image strong - easily identifiable and instantly recognizable. The further out the perimeter, the more secure the position. If JD didn't make a position on something as similar as this, what is to stop "Bubba's Booze Ol' #7.5" from using a very similar design?

It is doubtful that that phrase, without context, will be used against you. Words on their own have no standing without context. Now, if you pull a knife, wave it menacingly at an individual and scream "I'm going to kill you!", now you are talking about something that will get you in trouble. People scream, whisper, shout, say and text 'I'm going to kill you' all day every day with no repercussion and there shouldn't be any repercussion, because that phrase is a well known idiom.

While it is true that you can't pull words back from the past, you can, figuratively, unsay most comments. How successful the unsaying is debatable and dependent upon the comment, to whom it was said and in what context you made the comment you wish to retract.

IANA expert in revolutionary movements... However, it seems to me that if authoritarian governments can be toppled in such places as Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and others in the mid-east, then perhaps a popular uprising in the U.S. does have a chance for meaningful change.

I don't doubt that there would potentially be terrible (even horrific) situations, but if your point is that is can't happen unless the change to the U.S. government comes from within, I think you are mistaken. In the history of the United States there have been significant changes in the position of the Federal Government due to civil unrest and even riotous uprisings.

You asked:

The answer is yes. Weapons come in more packages than just guns, tanks and bombs.

One man alone can't effect change to the massive momentum and overwhelming power of a government, but that one man can speak, can sway others to his point of view and that small group can grow. Do you think that Martin Luther King would have stood a chance had he marched alone? MLKj started by speaking from the pulpit, then he worked in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Then MLK along with others (Ralph Abernathy chief among them) started the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the rest followed. From 1955 to 1968 he spearheaded peaceful revolution. He never held office, but the USA was a different place when he died.

[citation needed]

We all know the Data is fully functional.

I believe it is possible, but not a sure bet, that we will have less access to our devices as time goes forward. Prices for the individual integrated devices will become more affordable, smaller and these 'integrated devices' will become more accepted. This means that it will not be cost effective to buy components for a DIY server for the majority of people. Having said that, it will also be a standard that a fully integrated network will build itself in your home. Internet and local devices will be all on the network - just like now, except more so.

To me the real issue is the storage of my personal data - most of which is information I don't want to store on a shared 'cloud'. Currently I have what I think will become the standard setup (although more integrated and smaller); Home server/storage that can act more like a cache of the larger data such as movies and the like, but also a secure device that holds important data, such as identity and banking information. I also use a web-hosting account to act as my external storage. On this external storage I have my music, selected movies in a format for on the go viewing, a copy of all my e-books, a copy of my photos, and other important (to me) data. finally I have a third location that is just backup - for all my devices, tablet, PC, phone, etc.

Mrs. Moore seems to be well educated in the political science of this era and her political outlook seems to be leftward leaning, perhaps a meaningful conversation could be had. If Mrs. Moore needs better information on how the Internet and in particular the FREE internet functions, perhaps some of you /.ers can provide her with the proper instruction. Also for those of you who have the desire to educate Congress, she could be the conduit. (This in no way implies any malicious acts or negative attention for Mrs. Moore.)

Stephanie Y. Moore, Minority Counsel, House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet
(202) 225-3951
Stephanie.Moore@mail.house.gov
LinkedIn Salary includes gifts and such gained via lobbying.

Education: Oberlin 1982 BA; Harvard 1985 JD
Career: Counsel, Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives; Counsel, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property

I think you may have some rather high expectations on this one...

Let's not be coy, by the word 'sting' you mean 'solicitation' or 'entrapment'. This is not how you investigate, this is how you manufacture criminal behavior.

You wanted a suggestion, how about police investigations. In other words, FBI detectives should be detecting...

Yes, crime detection is harder than just creating a criminal act, but it is actually locating and stopping a criminal, rather than duping some nut into it. Sting... what a cute colloquialism for fraud.