Before we fix short urls, why not fix email address dependency by using private/public key encryption to direct emails instead.. This way the email travels with your identity, not reliant on ip address..

To solve short URL's use a similar method..

So effectively something like a P2P search for identities, use multiple public key connections for source verification, like how certificate systems are used, to avoid man in the middle interception..

You don't like amazon, stop buying their stuff..
That's the answer..

What pirating is really for the media companies is a justification for DRM, which impinges more on consumer rights than on piraters. But when the government upholds the fines for piracy, it takes a different role. But its up to us consumers to to determine which products we purchase to keep the closed source software industry from misusing it's power against fair use. Should they ever forget who their master really is, we have open source to leverage our position. It is also in the best interest of piraters to support open source because in the long run it will be the best choice: no guilt, no greed, and less risk (from malware). See P2P is the perfect place to inject malware, bot-nets, viruses. Use a condom, get linux.

Package Manager in the Linux sense is not an Installation Manager which is what Windows uses..

Check out the package manager in Ubuntu.. What it does:

1. search for all available software, supported by canonical.
2. download the software and all depdencies.
3. verify downloaded software completeness to an MD5 or other method before install, also match crytographic signatures. (where does Windows software come from, the author? Your guess is as good as mine. But in Ubuntu's package manager there can be no doubt where).
4. deinstall the software and either keep or remove the dependencies.
5. upgrade software and dependencies.
6. filter software by licensing method.
7. install all software matching a wildcard, like "gstreamer*"

And if you want to install the way windows does, from a file, look around for ".deb" files, they are all over the web.

Also when you write tutorials for windows, how do you describe to users where to get the files? In Ubuntu it is "apt-get install PACKAGE", in windows, it is goto "trustworthy/untrustworthy website", download this file (not always easy to determine where), and decompress with RAR or zip, does Windows come with rar, oh yes need to get winrar.. Decompress, double-click on executable file.. Ooops no no no virus-scanner this isn't a virus..

Windows is so much easier (*not*).

Linux recognizes common hardware INSTANTLY. And usually you don't need to install drivers.. If you do, you are probably running hardware that will not be supported in a couple of years. So yes, most Windows hardware is "experiments". Linux just adopts that which is more reliable and nerd adopted which is usually the best in the long run.

Windows recognizes almost nothing but simple hardware, but it wastes about 3 minutes with its bureaucratic protocols. Like say a usb mouse --- Oh it's a Human Interface Device --- It's a Logitech Mouse --- oh now you can use it. Is this optimal?

OR You need an installation disk to install the driver, but is it the driver in the Windows 98 sub folder or the one in the NT sub folder? Install both, why not? Ooops, driver conflict.. Well disable one, try it out, if it doesn't work,do the other.. Great it works, except for the temporary stall that occurs every 5 minutes, but that is ignorable.

Do you have a wifi card? Multiple, like me? Do you swap your USB wifi's out and have to re=establish connection with the router? In Ubuntu I have one interface for all my wifi cards.. In Windows, I have multiple device drivers, one for each card, and I have a choice, either use the driver's interface for selection a server to connect to or use Windows.. Which in the long run only adds confusion.. Beyond that, I have two drivers running in memory, each possibly polling the system for the existence of its hardware.. Hardly optimal.. In Ubuntu, I can connect any device in and out, over and over, and the OS doesn't complain. Wifi out, okay disconnected, wifi in, connecting, connected, wifi out, disconnected.. If you did this on windows, you'd have to designate which server to connect to and might have to pull some tricks like configure the driver to use the Windows wifi manager.. But such changes don't usually get saved, so you must do them over and over and over again, everytime you diconnect and reconnect the device.. Not only that, but the process is different for every f*cking proprietary driver that every device you have uses.. Isn't software patents and private industry grand? They give us all these unique technologies that the average would not give a f*ck about, unless they couldn't get something done, in which case it is a bitch to deal with.

Not unlike hardware support on Linux, but nobody ever considers the alternative to Linux hardware support.

This guy is obviously a Capitalist whackoff.. Vendor.. The kind who read slashdot in the interest of persuading others to adopt in golden-hammer-ware. Probably a paid Microsoft evangelist..

BTW, most of the world uses Apache and PHP.. Even my site:

http://www.chann3lz.com/

I've written PHP software for more sites and it takes me no time to get my software up and running on a LAMP environment.

Windows file security is too granular, and it was developed 30 years after Unix, which uses a 9 bit file protection method, where users are partitioned into three groups.. And it works, and works very well.. It doesn't have the ambiguity of the Windows file protection that only makes using Windows a bitch.

Also to connect to MySQL is much easier than Oracle. Oracle has so many server-side lock-in features that a database shouldn't have.. Like triggers, WTF, they are designed with "hacked databases" in interest.. Why not build the logic into the client-side db software and maintain database consistency there? BTW, how much does a Oracle server license cost? And does it justify the cost? F*CK NO!! A dual Pentium Pro 200Mhz license in 2000 would have cost about $40K.. In this recession Oracle is history unless they are going to wise up.

Everytime I'm asked to use a Windows/IIS environment to get PHP software up and working, which is a majority of the free web software on the Internet, I've noticed some things:

1. ISP's that uses this setup are idiots when it comes to security, as there is often no folder above document root to store files that you don't want people having web access to.

2. If you put in a ".dot" file, which windows doesn't support, it will disappear from the server.. Also ".htaccess" files can't be used.

3. No SSH access standard with windows/IIS, so if I wanted to write scripts on the server or run a crontab to do web chores, like run a php script that replaces youtube trashed videos with rough equivalents, which I did this morning from chann3lz.

4. IIS/Windows web servers cost more, demand more hand holding, vendor-lockin.. I have a 30 dollar a month virtual server with godaddy and I can have as many domains as I like, I can install whatever software I want.. Beit ruby, python, php, java, or even some microsoft brainfart like IIS (in a virtualbox).

Yes with Microsoft software you can get tighter coupling and integration, but what does that mean in the long-run? Abandonware!

If you really need commercial software, go for it.. It's a free market.. But it's your dime, not mine.

BTW, to put any of my software on another LAMP server all it takes is for me to change the login, pass in a config for the database, and the document path.. And execute some SQL in phpmyadmin.. BTW, find me the IIS equivalent of phpmyadmin.

How can a normal user, which is what people assume to be the ones that get windows, determine that GIMP is not as good as Photoshop?

Furthermore, who is going to buy 3DsMax over blender? I'd bet that 80% of 3DsMax users pirate their copies. So what is it that closed source developers really fighting here?

I think as a developer I would much rather be paid to make software I use, than to be paid to develop software I won't use at home. I think this is true of commercial developers. But you can best believe if open source is going to be developed, it will be by those who love to develope it and have specific needs.

Another thing to consider is that commercial software is developed to be sold, whether you need a new version or not. Whereas open source is developed to be used, and is placed in the public domain in the interest of encouraging adoption. Whereas commercial software developers can only claim of the use of their software..

No software is going to satisfy your needs 100% completely, you determine how to use software to meet your needs.

For the average user, Linux has everything you need.. Web browser, email client, aim client, skype, movie playback, mp3 playback, and such.. It's only when you get someone who wants to hook up some special hardware that they go ballistic.. If the vendors of hardware offered drivers or specs in open source, you'd bet linux would support it, possibly natively in the kernel or a kernel module. But if a vendor doesn't offer drivers in open source, what does that say about the hardware? Look at all the hardware designed for Windows 98 like the Intel/Mattel microscope cameras, or webcams.. You can't use it on XP.. It's throwaway hardware.. Are we a consumer throwaway culture, or do we make the best use of our money?

Thank god for the recession, at least it will point out to us what is really important. Quality.

You will fail to use Linux optimally on laptops for these reasons:

1. hardware is too new, and uses all proprietary hardware that is designed to be "made for vista". Vista was designed with DRM in mind, the hardware is going to be bent in favor of closed source.

2. hardware sold with linux is designed to be "cheap" or "low power", which is not really the best market for linux, although it can do that. Linux users are no dummies, and the dummies are the ones returning the laptops (or netbooks).

3. Linux is best at driver minimization and unification. If you can get linux to run on hardware, that means the hardware is popular, is going to be well supported, and is non-proprietary meaning you should be able to find people that are familiar with it enough to fix it. Linux should be the watermark by which to determine if hardware is reliable. If it is "wintel" designed, it is going to make use of memory-sharing hardware that sucks down the CPU to add more features.

4. Linux is best on used/older laptops, people who pay for new hardware are the fools who pay for the bugs, every linux nerd knows this.. The market analysis data is flawed considering how it determines market adoption, by new laptop sales.

Let me see, have you completed and/or installed as many games as I have on WINE?

http://www.youtube.com/user/rofthorax

I think I should get some prizes too.. I doubt F4tality or whatever his name would not have the balls to get games running on WINE, nor to play them to the end.

Let's see you install COD4 on WINE F4t4lity or whatever your name is..

WTF is the Unix File command? You associate a mime type with a image.. This has been around for ages..
Doesn't Cygnus make open source unix like interfaces?

Cygwin is a unix environment running on Windows.. You'd think a linux friendly company wouldn't use software patents, but I guess they are cruising fro the bruising.. Especially considering Microsoft has quite a few software patents and may find someone to take them to court for.. It's probably not worth it.

Did I say that?

Comcast forces me to purchase into basic cable service and pay 20 dollars extra per month for it, even though I don't need it.. Then they limit my uproute connection for fear that somehow I might steal video content from them and sell it to people on the net.. I have a solution, sell me an Internet connection without the cable service, and permit me a greater uproute transmission rate, because I don't really care about TV.. It's nothing but mind control.

Well they can shut up the media, but they can't shut up bloggers/podcasters..

Do that and they will be breaking the law by invading people's privacy.. They probably just overlooked something.. I smell executive firings..

I like the painted lake and golf course near Google headquarters.. I haven't visited in a while, but after seeing features like that, I realized that some parts of google earth are painted.. My hometown, Los Alamos, NM had no detail for a while in the residential and governmental sections.. It does now..