Comment Re:FUD (Score 1) 307
I haven't been following the discussions about this; thanks for the link.
I haven't been following the discussions about this; thanks for the link.
If Microsoft wasn't hostile to Java then maybe Sun wouldn't have needed to do those stupid shenanigans to get Java to run halfway decently on Windows; it could even have been included with Windows (not the bastardized version Microsoft made, but the true, licensed Sun version).
But I don't really blame Microsoft too much for this; I blame Sun for declaring Java a "Windows Killer" from the get-go. The idea was that you'd run all your apps in Java in a web browser, and this would "Kill Windows". Yeah, declaring war on Microsoft was REALLY smart. I can't really blame MS for not going along with them on that. Probably just another example of Scott McNealy running his mouth.
(Of course it didn't help that Java was slow as hell back in the beginning; it isn't now, but the damage to its reputation is done).
Do you have some citations for this? Not being a smart-ass, I'm genuinely interested in reading more about this if it's true.
Yeah, that's what I had to do; but then, I'm not a typical end user and that was not a typical situation. The point was about driver compatibilty, and that that such a thing is actually possible with Windows. The rest is all beside the point.
Windows backward compatibility is required because the average end user just wants to continue to be able to run their old programs when they buy a new computer with Windows 7 on it, and don't want to muck around with downloading "non-free" NVidia drivers, compiling kernel wrappers or running a script to do so, etc. Some distros make this pretty easy, but not all and it's an extra step that could potentially confuse or trip up the end user who doesn't care about the politics of Open Source.
A little sluggish but not too bad if you max out the RAM to 1GB.
Not only that, in a pinch I can use a friggin' Windows XP video driver in Windows 7, which I needed to do to get 3D to work on a Dell C610 - that's a Pentium III running Windows 7. As easy as it is to knock Windows for its faults, that's pretty damn good compatability.
Now, go on the Linux Kernel Mailing List and suggest that the Linux kernel maintain a consistent binary API and see what happens...
Probably not directly but they make adapters; I've no doubt that you could put a Chevy engine into a Ford and vice/versa.
Check out the Monster Miata (http://www.monstermiata.com/) to see the kind of crazy things that are possible!
Please, PLEASE someone mod the parent's comment up. I've seen this sort of thing so many times in the open source community. Remember all the different platforms Linux USED to run on, for example, and how that was a pretty big deal? Sparc32 anyone?
A LOT of people still run 10.4. Quite a few even run 10.3 (though I admit that's pushing things a bit these days). If Mozilla can be ported to Windows, OSX (any version), Linux, Solaris, IRIX (at least it USED to exist), etc, then why the hell can't it continue to be ported to 10.4, even if (like a lot of other OSX software I've seen these days) it needs to be a separate version?
BTW, I also felt this way when I saw that the OSX port of Chrome was Intel-only - seriously, it would have killed Google to have build it as as Universal Binary?
He must be a lumberjack.
I have a Macbook Pro, the very last revision (late 2008) of the previous version before the unibody models; it's the one that looks like the Powerbook G4.
One time I wasn't thinking and set it down on a concrete picnic table with a VERY rough surface and used it there for a couple of hours. Later I realized that I had probably scratched the hell out of the bottom of it but when I lifted it up it still looked as pristine as when it was new, not a scratch or scuff.
Another tine I dropped it and it hit a metal bedframe on the corner, HARD; again, not a scratch or dent. Sure, anecdotal evidence, but these things seem to be tougher than they look.
Well put. I think perhaps it's always been this way to some extent, but the level of emotional stifling has hit new heights with lurid, hysterical news coverage. Yellow journalism in the newspapers of long ago was one thing, but the shrill hysteria of modern TV news has hit record heights - I can barely ever watch it anymore - and it's what's driving this irrational sense of fear.
What I've personally noticed in day-to-day interaction with people is it's become more politically correct to be reactionary than reasonable. Too many people WAY overreact to the tiniest perceived offense, and it's impossible to have a reasoned argument with them over any issue. Guess it makes for better gossip.
Very good point. I wish universities had to treat their students as paying customers, which they actually are; then maybe she could at least get her tuition refunded. As much money as students put into these schools, there should be some legal protection for that massive financial investment so that someone like this girl doesn't get financially ruined by a dickhead administrator.
Couldn't agree more. I think that it's based on emacs, which I never really took to. It seems like a solution in search of a problem; there was nothing at all wrong with the man command.
For what it's worth, the best man pages I've ever seen were the ones that came with IRIX; very clear yet concise explanations with great examples, and just well-written in general. SGI must have hired a good tech writer to do those.
The full link to the book is here:
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed -- it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer. -- A.J. Perlis
