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Comment Re:Rust? (Score 1) 75

rewriting existing software kind of imply that it's the same organization switching from C to Rust and from GPL to MIT.
It's more like a clone here. And as far as I know, there is no major project of writing a Linux kernel clone.
Also if uutils end up good, the GNU project could always fork it and license it under GPL.

Comment Re:Rust? (Score 1) 75

There are already non-GNU alternatives for these utilities with non-copyleft licenses. BSD use them.

GNU utilities will remain in C and licensed under the GPL. There is a competing project called uutils with the goal of re-writing clones in Rust. That project also happen to use the MIT license. But this project may fail or succeed (even if it works, it doesn't mean people are going to ditch the GNU utilities). But what matter is that this is a competing project.

The Linux kernel doesn't have a direct competitor using Rust as a programming language. Rust is being used inside the Linux kernel project for some new code/refactors. And that code is still GPLv2. So I don't see why you bring a uutils analogy. There is nothing in common.

Comment 2040 objective (Score 2, Insightful) 303

2026: Announce objective of 90% EV by 2040
2027-2035: Do nothing
2036: Announce that the 2040 objective of 90% is not realistic and must be scrapped. But all current politicians involved are going to be out of office/retired.

That's basically what they did with the 2035 objective.
How about they set a realistic objective for the next 4 years (one mandate)? It could be like having 15% EV by 2030.

Comment Re:Way to bury the lead. (Score 3, Insightful) 57

Other people find it somehow a real flex about the phone or computer they own. Their sense of worth is based more on not owning an Apple product than much else. The idea that the most popular is somehow best means that the 2018 Toyota Corolla is inarguably the best car on earth.

You are getting it the other way around. More people buy an Apple device because it is a status symbol and/or it increases their sense of worth, compared to people (hardly any) who avoid Apple for that reason.

People avoid Apple for various other reasons, mostly price, performance/flexibility, being used to Windows/Linux, and to avoid vendor lock-in.

Comment Not the first time (Score 2) 13

Every now and then, a manufacturer will try to make an open source phone, or a reparaible phone, or a privacy-phone. They all fail for the same reasons. Their volumes are two low, they get outdated components, which means they sell you something for $800 that would otherwise be worth $200. They don't have the same quality assurance as big corporations like Samsung. So expect annoyances that you can't guess from the spec sheet such as crappy microphone, software bugs (which they won't have the resources to fix), poor battery life, etc.
But I wish them good luck.

Comment Re: Duh (Score 4, Insightful) 102

None of this is anywhere close to Trump stupidity. Pardoning war criminals and January 6ers in its first days in office, doing everything to deligitimize a free and fair election, threat to invade allied countries, stupid trade wars. Even his board of peace is a joke (lifetime Trump chairmanship, even after he leaves the white house, really?) This is doing long term permanent damage to the US reputation that will be much worse than any short term gain that may happen.

Comment Re:Buy full price, then (Score 1) 86

The car market is more competitive than the cell phone carrier market.
In a truly competitive market, there wouldn't be any SIM-locking. Because developing that feature cost money, and a carrier using it would need to pass the bill to customers, who would all flee to the competition and refuse to buy lesser phone for the same price or higher.

Comment Re:Privilege (Score 1) 86

I love all the folks that are "just buy the phone outright, unlocked, then this isn't a problem". Not everybody has the money to do that. So, you're saying that poor people should get screwed?

Poor people SHOULDN'T get screwed. They SHOULDN'T finance $1000 phones on 2 years. If you can't afford a $1000 purchase outright, you can't afford that phone.

Still, SIM locking should be banned. It works just fine in Canada.

Comment Re:Buy full price, then (Score 3, Interesting) 86

why should Verizon unlock it if the terms are not met?

That's how it works in civilized countries. I have a subsidized phone that I can use with a foreign SIM card when I travel. I still have to pay my phone. I'd have to pay it even if it stops working.
There is no valid reason for SIM locks. Just like if you lease a car from a dealer, you can still chose to fill it with gas from any provider. Are you suggesting it would be OK to lock it down to "Toyota gas" until it's fully paid for?

Comment Re:I'll buy ID.Polo (and Cupra Raval / Skoda Epiq) (Score 1) 57

I just read on that car because it's not available in my region. According to Wikipedia, it will have either a 38 or 56 kWh battery. The 38 kWh battery likely won't have that 450 km range. This is most likely with the large battery, and even then, they must be using the very optimistic WLTP test cycle to get those numbers. I expect more like 300 km real-world range in ideal summer conditions.

Comment Re:Or we can tax appropriately (Score 1) 165

and gets out of whack for others when fuel prices swing (because road maintenance cost doesn't swing with fuel prices; and the tax doesn't change, it is just a percent per unit of fuel, regardless of the fuel price).

You can have a fixed tax, let say $0.5/L. Problem solved.

But it doesn't work at all with EV's, and less effectively with HEV's

EVs tend to be subsidized one way or another. So you may remove other subsidies and keep this one (not having to pay for gas tax). With about 1% EV on the road, this is far from a problem anyways.
What we want is for those who drive the most to switch to EV, so that we can have cleaner air.
But we can put a separate yearly distance tax on EV at some point.

Actually it is very simple. Drop the gas/diesel tax completely, and tax based on annually-collected odometer readings instead, adjusted by vehicle weight. Problem solved. Most states collect the readings annually already with vehicle inspection. What I very much oppose is the government forcing people to put spy devices in their vehicles (in any form) that can monitor ANYTHING except distance.

Gas tax is far less easy to cheat compared to odometer reading, however. So as long as there are less than 10% EV on roads, I think gas tax is the best solution.

Comment Re:Or we can tax appropriately (Score 1) 165

It's far from a perfect system. It's not as if people had the choice being a toll road and an alternative in most places.
Some roads have tolls, and some don't. And it's quite arbitrary and unfair.
Two persons pay the same amount of tax and drive the same distance per year in the same model of car, but person A has a toll road between his home and his job, while person B has a free road supported by taxes. Why does person B deserves a free road and A doesn't?
Sure, person A could avoid the toll by making a detour but it's still unfair. The more you drive, the more you should pay for roads. Gas tax is quite a good proxy for that. And there aren't enough EV yet for it to be a problem.

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