Patents exist to encourage research, development, inventing new things, and sharing that knowledge instead of keeping it a secret. Researching whale genes costs money, so if there were no patents then either the company would keep its discoveries locked in a safe or anyone would be able to freely leech off of them.

Patenting the obvious is a separate issue.

That screenshot represents work in progress. Look at the mock-up to see what they are aiming for in the final result.

According to the article, there are 24 million Fedora machines, and 12 million Ubuntu users. If for example the average fedora user has 3 machines, then Fedora would have 8 million users. So it could be that Fedora would be at the same time be both less popular AND more widely used. But then again, where is the number for Ubuntu machines? If each the average number of machines an Ubuntu user has is 3, then Ubuntu would be more widely used.

IOW, apples and oranges. The statistics are related but not comparable.

A logical one. It just so happens logic in this case doesn't coincide with common practice. First there is maximize, which increases the size of the window, then minimize which hides it, then close which closes it. So the window gets bigger, smaller, disappears. The layout we are all used to puts the extremes (maximize, close) together, and the two similarities (minimize, close) apart, which doesn't really make sense if you look at the logical ordering of the buttons. In a sense, Ubuntu is actually correcting a historical mistake, and in doing that it also sets itself apart from everyone else.

The thing I don't like is the button-trough. It only adds visual clutter without adding any value, and makes it harder to customize the theme without breaking it. Aside from that, I think the new GTK and Metacity theme are pretty decent, but they could have chosen something better. Still, it makes a good foundation for the next few years, even if it's still not up to par with KDE, Windows, or Macintosh. If they could get it to look as good as the new website mock-ups and Plymouth theme then they'd really have something special. For now I think they should brighten the color of the buttons, as I find them too dark.

They didn't care for it in 1921, 1929, and 1936-1939 either. It also doen't seem to bother you that

* Israel has been the homeland of the Israelis for the past 3280 years.

* Israelis have lived in Israel continuosly for that entire time.
The Israelis had sovereignty over Israel for about 1000 years, the longest total compared to everyone else. The only other nation that might compete is the Byzatine empire, and they dissappeared over 500 years ago.

* The Israeli worldwide center of worship has been in Israel for the 3280 years. Out of those, the Tample stood on the Temple Mount for a total of 830 years.

* In the 19th century, Israel was almost uninhabited. However, in the cities about 30% of the population was Israeli. The country was mostly uninhabitable malaria-infested swamps and deserts.

* During the 19th century the Israelis started moving out of the cities, and Israelis and Arabs began moving into Israel.

* In 1920, 1921, 1929 the Arabs executed pogroms against the Israelis throughout the country, including Hebron, Jaffe, and Jerusalem.

* This quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haganah sums up the Israeli response to these Arab hostilities pretty well:
"Many Haganah fighters objected to the official policy of havlagah (restraint) that Jewish political leaders (who had become increasingly controlling of the Haganah) had imposed on the militia. Fighters had been instructed to only defend communities and not initiate counter attacks against Arab gangs or their communities. This policy appeared defeatist to many who believed that the best defense is a good offense and, in 1931, the most militant elements of the Haganah splintered off and formed the Irgun Tsva'i-Leumi (National Military Organization), better known as "Irgun" (or by its Hebrew acronym, pronounced "Etzel"). In 1940, the Irgun also split over the issue of whether or not to attack the British during World War II and their off-shoot became known as the "Lehi" (Hebrew acronym of Lochamei Herut Yisrael, standing for Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, widely known as the "Stern Gang" after its leader, Abraham Stern)."

* There has never been a Palistinian state. The first to claim the existance of a Palestinian nation, seperate from the rest of the Arab nation, was the PLO, which waws founded in 1964. Until then they were regarded merely as Arabs who happened to live in Israel, not as some unique national entity.

I'm just going to quote a previous comment of mine, with only a few minor corrections. Seems it will be sufficient to prevent people from being misled by your selective and short memory:

short historical recap: The land of Israel has been the homeland of the people of Israel (nowadays known as Jews) for about 3300 years. The Israelis had independence in the countery for almost 1000 years. The temple, the worldwide center of God worship, stood on the temple mount for a total of 830 years. There has been Israelis living in the land of Israel for over 3280 years, icluding the past 2 millenia, with only a single break caused by the Babilonian exile that lasted 50 years. Hardly anyone lived there there in the 19th century. Then suddenly there's an increasing movement of Israelis and Arabs into the country, Arabs at higher numbers than Israelis so that by 1948 the Arabs in the country outnumber the Israelis 2 to 1 (in spite of the racist ""White Book" that restricted the Israeli's return to their homeland). The Israelis mainly kept to themselves, but the Arabs attacked Israeli towns during their rebellion against the French in ~1921, and performed pogroms against the Israelis in many areas in the country in 1929, including Jaffe, Hebron, and Jerusalem. The Israelis established a self-defence organization called Hagana (which literally means "defense"). A group broke off called Etzel (which is an acronym for "Nation Military Organization") and a group broke off those called Lechi (acronym for "Warriors of the Liberty of Israel"). The Hagana only did self defence, but the Etzel and Lechi also retaliated and in some cases took the initiative in the hoatilities. in 1936 the Arabs rebelled against the British but have also targeted the Israelis until 1939, when the rebellion was quelched. in 1947 the UN decided to partition the western bank of Israel between the Arabs and the Israelis. Hostilities continued. Months later Israel declared independence, and two days later was attacked by 7 Arab countries, only 4 of which share borders with the state of Israel. Syria, Jordan, and Egypt absorbed the lands the UN allocated to the "Arab Country", a country which has never existed in the first place. The PLO was formed in 1964, and it's foundation was the first time anyone claimed the existence of a Palestinian nation.

And an Ironic historical anecdote: Falastin is an Arab mispronunciation of the Hebrew word Plashet, which in English means "Invader".

But I guess no one cares. Supporting the Invaders, whatever their identity and claims, is alway good when the people they are assaulting are Israeli.

Phillistine is a mispronunciation of the Biblical word Plishti. Whether they chose that name or if they were dubbed so by the Israelis, but even if it's the former, we still have a very interesting and ironic historical coincidence.

I'm not sure the Israelis hated them. so far as I can tell, after Joshua's conquests the Israelis haven't really fought anything but wars of self defense until at least king david, and possibly even later. It were the Plishtim who have been encrouching on the territory of the Israeli tribes and trying to gain domination over them. I don't remeber all the details of the wars between Israel and Plashet, but sometimes they won, and sometimes we did. Sometimes they ruled over us, sometimes they didn't. Eventually king David conquered them, and they were conquered from us by Egypt about 60 years later.

Ben Israel (Son of Israel), Ish Israel (Man of Israel), Israel, Israeli, Am Israel (People of Israel),: all these and more are used to desribed the nation and individual members of the nation of Israel. Nowadays the term is misused to refer to any person who has been granted citizenship by the state of Israel, regardless of whether or not they are members of our nation. The term Jew oroginally meant a member of the tribe of Juda, then a member of the kingdom of Juda, and later a member of the nation of Israel.

BTW, all that I wrote I wrote from memory while attending class, so if therte are any mistakes, please forgive me. I am distracted and haven't reviewed the facts for a while. On that note I'll make 2 corrections to my previous post:
1. The Israelis have lived in Israel continuosly for over 3280 years until today, with a single 50-year break caused by being forceably exiled by the Babilonians, and forbidden to return until a Persian king finally gave us permission (he may have been the son of Ester, which would make hime Israeli).
2. The Arab mispronunciation of the Hebrew word "Plashet" is Falastin. Arabic doesn't have a P, so they can't even properly pronounce the name they adopted for themselves.

Here we are again with short and selective momery. Forgetting the Israelis have lived in, and had sovereignty over Israel for way linger than anyone else. That the Israelis were there way longer than the newcomer Arabs, were here to greet them when they arrived, and never left. So yeah, if you only look back at the last 100 years you'd think Israelis are European foreigners, when in fact they forced into exile and didn't come back because they couldn't. The land was unuhabitable untile we returned and turned swamps into fields and deserts into forests, which is also the time when Arabs started flocking into our country in droves, to the point where the newcomers outnumbered the natives. And it's at that very convenient point in time, while ignoring all the Arab violence, that the European and American memory of this region begins. So people want to blame the Israelis. If the facts are inconvenient then crop them to fit.

short historical recap: The land of Israel has been the homeland of the people of Israel (nowadays known as Jews) for about 3300 years. The Israelis had independence in the countery for almost 1000 years. The temple, the worldwide center of God worship, stood on the temple mount for a total of 830 years. There has been Israelis living in the land of Israel for over 2280 years, icluding the past 2 millenia. Hardly anyone lived there there in the 19th century. Then suddenly there's an increasing movement of Israelis and Arabs into the country, Arabs at higher numbers than Israelis so that by 1948 the Arabs in the country outnumber the Israelis 2 to 1. The Israelis mainly kept to themselves, but the Arabs attacked Israeli towns during their rebellion against the French in ~1921, and performed pogroms against the Israelis in many areas in the country in 1929. The Israelis established a self-defence organization called Hagana (which literally means "defense"). A group broke off called Etzel (which is an acronym for "Nation Military Organization") and a group broke off those called Lechi (acronym for "Warriors of the Liberty of Israel"). The Hagana only did self defence, but the Etzel and Lechi also retaliated and in some cases took the initiative in the hoatilities. in 1936 the Arabs rebelled against the British but have also targeted the Israelis until 1939, when the rebellion was quelched. in 1947 the UN decided to partition the western bank of Israel between the Arabs and the Israelis. Hostilities continued. Months later Israel declared independence, and two days later was attacked by 7 Arab countries, only 4 of which share borders with the state of Israel. Syria, Jordan, and Egypt absorbed the lands the UN allocated to the "Arab Country", a country which has never existed in the first place. The PLO was formed in 1964, and it's foundation was the first time anyone claimed the existence of a Palestinian nation.

And an Ironic anecdote: Palestine is an Arab mispronunciation of the Hebrew word Plishti, which in English means "Invader".

But I guess no one cares. Supporting the Invaders, whatever their identity and claims, is alway good when the people they are assaulting are Israeli.

PS I might have been off by a year or two here and there in the dates.

Isn't this kind of thing what VMs are for? The kernel could have a VM, and run all binary executables that are compiled for the VM inside the VM. That way you can get real compile-once-run-everywhere, and with no bloating of the size of executables. It should then also be possible to port the VM to other OSs.

I believe the correct saying is: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating"