Comment Re:I'm prepared to offer a solution (Score 1) 209
Would there be a sunset clause on the mandatory sunset clause?
Head asplode in 5... 4...
Should Apple Open Source the iPhone? 379
An anonymous reader writes "Given the OpeniBoot project is just a breath away from getting Android onto the iPhone, maybe Apple should consider opening up the platform. This post has five reasons, but I think there are far more. Without open source, Apple will find itself in the same position as today's Microsoft in seven years."
Comment If I hear "czar" one more time... (Score 5, Funny) 172
Pretty soon we're going to need a czar czar to keep track of all the czars we've been willing into existence lately.
Comment Re:Amen with the crashed systems. (Score 1) 125
In fact, a system that is thrashing itself to death (already "crashed") can still be scanned without disturbing its thrashing.
Comment Re:A security update that reduces security (Score 1) 351
Because they won't work on XP anymore. It will not be supported and will no longer receive security updates.
XP receives lots of security updates. I notice every time it installs one without my permission, then interrupts my game of TF2 and forces me to reboot at gunpoint.
UK ISPs Are Censoring Wikipedia 668
Concerned Wikipedian writes "Starting December 4th, Wikipedia administrators noticed a surge of edits from certain IP addresses. These IPs turned out to be the proxies for the content filters of at least 6 major UK ISPs. After some research by Wikipedians, it appears that the image of the 1970s LP cover art of the Scorpions' 'Virgin Killer' album has been blocked because it was judged to be 'child pornography,' and all other attempts to access Wikimedia foundation sites from these ISPs are being proxied to only a few IP addresses. This is causing many problems for Wikipedia administrators, because much of the UK vandalism now comes from a single IP, which, when blocked, affects potentially hundreds of thousands of anonymous users who intend no harm and are utterly confused as to why they are no longer able to edit. The image was flagged by the the Internet Watch Foundation, which is funded by the EU and the UK government, and has the support of many ISPs and online institutions in the UK. The filter is fairly easy to circumvent simply by viewing the article in some other languages, or by logging in on the secure version of Wikipedia."
Comment Re:It's recycled (Score 1) 225
This is not true whatsoever of game code, which is the primary matter at hand. Rarely does a game company write a new engine from scratch, even when they want a very different version. E.g. Quake III is based on Quake II is based on Quake I, UT3 is based on UT2k4 is based on UT2k3 (can't remember the UTE version numbers).
Comment Re:Recycled Code (Score 2, Insightful) 225
When you're talking about game engines, however, recycling code isn't just an option, it's a necessity. You're not going to rewrite half a million lines of code if you don't have to -- it makes no sense. You update the engine, add new logic, and package it with new assets to release a new game. It's the only way that makes sense.
Comment Re:It's recycled (Score 1) 225
Many application vendors have released their code GPL'd or otherwise open source, but it's very rare in the gaming world.
Comment It's recycled (Score 3, Informative) 225
The code is used for other projects by the same company. Few companies release their old/failed code -- id being the only game company I know of that does so (GPLing their old code).
Comment Re:I'm slightly astonished (Score 1) 384
Where in either of these documents did it say that the routine was written in assembly? I believe you were confused by the PDF's use of a disassembler.
Comment Re:I'm slightly astonished (Score 3, Insightful) 384
Ugh, sad to hear. When will people learn that this nonsense only hurts them?
Comment Re:I'm slightly astonished (Score 1) 384
Assembly will only be used for small, high-cost operations. These pieces are small enough that if they malfunction, it's in a way that will be immediately visible.
Comment Re:I'm slightly astonished (Score 4, Interesting) 384
I'm no DRM fan (I've been working against it for years, e.g. El Tunes and PyMusique), but there's no reason that it'd cause these problems, outside of the authorization problems. Once the game has started, the most the DRM will be doing is decrypting game code, if it's not decrypted entirely at loadtime.
Political and Technical Implications of GitTorrent 208
lkcl writes "The GitTorrent
Protocol (GTP) is a protocol for collaborative
git repository distribution across the Internet.
Git
promises to be a distributed software management tool, where a repository
can be distributed. Yet, the mechanisms used to date to actually
'distribute,' such as ssh, are very much still centralized.
GitTorrent makes
Git truly distributed. The initial plans are for reducing mirror
loading, however the full plans include totally distributed development:
no central mirrors whatsoever. PGP signing (an existing feature of git)
and other web-of-trust-based mechanisms will take over from protocols on ports
(e.g. ssh) as the access control 'clearing house.'
The implications of a truly distributed revision control system are
truly staggering: unrestricted software freedom. The playing field
is leveled in so many ways, as 'The Web Site' no longer becomes the
central choke-point of control. Coming just in time for that
all-encompassing Free Software revolution hinted at by
The Rebellion Against Vista,
this article will explain more fully
some of the implications that make this quiet and technically
brilliant project, GitTorrent,
so important to Software Freedom, from both technical and
political perspectives."
