I also had some trouble playing it, I keep my ubuntu one release behind the "current" release for stability reasons so it is outdated but only slightly so.
Webm wouldn't work with any of my installed programs, and even the ogv file caused some trouble which is...unusual. It's been a few years since i got a video i couldn't play out of the box on my linux system.
I ended up playing the video in...firefox :) (don't know which plugin it uses or if it's the native video tag at this point)

Disclaimer: i know very little of media so it is likely classic PEBCAK. Ironically my ignorance almost prevented me from watching the very thing that would at least try to shed some light on the subject.

That said, the video is immensely interesting; I studied electronics (quite a while ago now) so a lot of it was familiar if deeply buried and for me it was about the right tempo, but I would imagine people with no introduction to the given material would have a hard time keeping up.

Anyway, cudos to the creator, it is a rare art to make something that "complex" accessible in 30 minutes.

If i remember correctly, there was some "new" opengl thing coming to browsers right? Something to do with quake... I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Anyway, opengl would be cross-system.
Directx would be bound to windows, which begs the question...why... The only thing this achieves is to render the download and double click of an "exe" file obsolete at the cost of probably being run in a sandbox.
It would not run on any other system, hence forgoing the biggest advantage of the web: everyone can access / use it.

This is pointless beyond pointless.

I can proudly say that I did not read the article, but from the summary it sounds like different "versions" are the problem. In this regard it's not the same problem as linux has.

The first question to ask is: which update mechanism does android have in place? Does it allow something like "apt-get dist-upgrade", does it require reflashing?

The second question (if there is any update mechanism): do cellphone providers allow this? I'm not american, so I don't know firsthand how messed the american system is, but slashdot has given me some idea. It would not surprise me greatly if cellphone providers would not allow you to arbitrarily update your device.

The third question (if the providers allow it): will "average joe" update his android? Does he even know how if he cared to?

The linux "problem" (i use the term loosely as i do not personally see this as a problem) is not so much different versions of gnome being used, but that besides gnome there is kde, xfce,...

I live in Europe and there is no DMCA-like legislation in my country nor many neighboring countries. Please note that the UK is considered by many to be an outcast of the EU, more in line with the US then us.

I use vmware mostly at work, cause well...it's kind of the industry standard these days. But for home use, I turn to virtualbox, I run a number of VM's at home and it works just great. Virtualbox was notably behind vmware a few cycles ago (say 1.x and 2.x), but all my "problems" were resolved in later versions, and now it's a real joy to use virtualbox. Usability wise it certainly get's a 10/10 from me, easy as can be. I am however still looking to make the move to KVM for home use, but the tools aren't up to the task yet in my opinion. So for now, virtualbox is a definate win!

I hadn't realized that the "promise" was version based, I simply assumed the promise for 1.0 also counted for version 2.0, but now I (with my amazing analytical skills) think that it's just a matter of getting people hooked.

1) Extend functionality to linux, promise not to sue
2) Users start using mono-based applications on linux
3) Once a large enough % of users has been reached, withdraw promise from next version
4) Linux users lose their favorite apps but microsoft lures them with the promise that they still work in windows!

Note that this will never work on hardcore linux users, but it's an effective strategy for the "let's see what this ubunter is all 'bout" crowd.

Though I must agree with some previous posters that java has not really progressed much lately feature-wise, but it is most definatly the corporate standard, at least around these parts (europe). I work in the EAI sector which uses both plain java EE and platforms built on java to integrate a number of systems. Our company works with a lot of suites built on java and only one built on .net... which is microsoft's own suite of course. I even see entire microsoft shops opting for java-based technologies instead of .net.

Java still dominates the industry by far and I don't think this is likely to change. And though java may have stagnated a bit feature wise, there are (much like in the .net world) other languages filling in the gaps. Scala and their ilk can offer features that java does not have, and still run side by side on the jvm.

Hmm, I wonder whether I should join the terrorists or the counter terrorists? I don't mind shooting a few hostages, but planting a bomb and then just sitting there watching the count down, knife in hand...It's just not me.

On a more insightful note:
> But it was Ordonez' passion for virtual racing, particularly his love of Gran Turismo, that made him stand out from his peers
ye, gamers tend to have that effect...

ok, not really insightful, but at least I tried!

I pressed "play", wondering if this performance would be on par with the recent revelation of crappy music created using nothing but ubuntu and wii-components, but it said that the video is currently unavailable. Being persistent and borderline OCD, I repeatedly clicked the button until moving pictures soothed the primal instinct that drives me. It started up and I thought, wow that's pretty damn professional, the visuals look great! ...

Turns out that was an ad, followed by "this video is currently unavailable".

As a loyal slashdotter, I refuse to even hover over the link of TFA, but my absolutely non-educated guess is that although cell phones may not have been around for 30 years (if it weighs over 10 kgs, it's NOT a cell phone in my book), they studied the past 30 years to get a baseline. First 10 years or so as a baseline of how the population was doing in a pre-cellphone era, then 20 years of actual usage.

PS: for those still stuck in non-metric systems, 10 kgs is like a kadzillion ounces.

> The idea that the operating system on your computer -- the thing that actually lets it do useful things -- isn't worth dinner for 2 at a national-chain resturant (your $30 figure) is completely hillarious. You honestly would rather forego the last 30 years of personal computer history and instead have 1 dinner for two?

If the other person is an actual real (breathing is a bonus) female, I would surmise that yes, most slashdotters would choose that option. On the other hand...those 30 years of computer history is the very reason they would agree to it, so...so they... but not if...only...*head assplodes*

> Linux came up a winner last month, returning to the 1% share mark for the first time since July.

Psst, I think we're winning.

As slashdotters love car analogies, I'll start with one. A car is a rather complex device, and yet every day millions of joe sixpacks are driving it around, more or less safely. Why? Several reasons, but the two most important ones are:

* the interface has been dumbed down tremendously
* you do not (in general) maintain it yourself

These two points have made it possible for every day people to drive a car without knowing the science behind it. Microsoft has been trying for years to do the same with windows, to dumb down the interface to the point that average users can not only use it, but to a certain degree maintain it.

However, the latter is simply impossible in my opinion. Computers are too complex to be dumbed down enough for joe sixpack, however chrome OS offers a nice solution. They simply give you an interface, but they relieve you of the maintenance. No longer will you be burdened with deciding whether or not clicking "ok" is going to crash your pc, no longer will you have to wonder whether renaming that "wav" file to "mp3" will actually work. They do the hard work, they maintain it and they offer you an interface that is easy enough for everyone to understand.

Note: i'm a linux-only kind of guy, so chrome os is NOT for me, but i can see the appeal for all those family members that keep pestering me cause they got the latest fashionable virus

will it run linux?

Seriously though, if the hardware is nice, i might consider buying it IF i can throw on an OS i actually...like

I mostly write small tools that I use for a variety of purposes. Some of them are scripts, and when a gui is really necessary i either do it webbased on a local server, or...........java.

I don't quite understand why people don't write more tools in java, not only is it compatible across linux distributions, it even works on a crapload of other operating systems. There are a massive amount of libraries, GUI development is dead-easy, backwards compatibility is a non-issue...