Posts by Peter

32 bit vs 64 bit

well, shared libraries.... why load a bunch of 32 bit libraries that might well *already* be resident in their 64 bit forms and waste that RAM/disk IO/etc/etc

also there are cpu register 'issues' around 32 bit mode IIRC.

sure, my mother in law wouldn't notice either way, but it doesn't mean there's no difference. even if it's mostly theory at this point, people think about this the wrong way. The question should be "what's the advantage of running 32 bit <whatever> on this x86_64 box?" - if there's a valid answer then fine. (either way I'd like the option of a native 64, even if just to pre-empt future requirements)

@Anonymous Coward

Really? I always thought 90% of the devs I met were morons, especially the ones that thought they actually understood IT beyond their blinkered view through their IDE of choice - I had a brief stint working dev but I got out of it - there are only so many times you can mindlessly bang out a variation on the same code. I'll qualify that by saying I do do a little coding occassionally but not professionally.

I done the support -> admin -> design/consultancy thing instead and frankly I wouldn't touch a role doing dev again.

++ to unix (linux, solaris, whatever), but I wouldn't call unix administration coding.

Not an OS

Windows 3.11 wasn't an OS. It was some flakey collection of graphics libraries and utilities. DOS was the operating system. (7.0 if you took a Win95 machine, ripped out the windows directory, turned off bootlogo, and then installed 3.11. :) )

@Hugh, and all

I've long argued that VAT should be ~40-50% for non-essentials, Income Tax should be zero, and NI should be scrapped too.

Got a route around income tax, like so many people who earn 6 figures or more? Got "grey" income that's not taxed? Some other third thing? Oh well, you still buy stuff, you're still here, you can't escape.

Also it'd seriously streamline tax collection, half the IR would be redundant, HR/payroll departments work would be cut across the land, and the swines who earn twice what the rest of us do and pay half the tax would suddenly find they had to if they wanted to actually use the cash...

To Yahoo

If you are going to go with an MS offer, sell me Zimbra first. Happy to cover my costs and otherwise keep it open source.

After all, MS aren't after it specifically right?

Real reason?

Zimbra....

Killed by piracy

Sure, just like the PC, the amiga and the atari st (probably the 3 easiest platforms to pirate software on) all died a death.

Oh, hold on...

And yes, if I can't control what my hardware is doing, it's not really my hardware is it. If it was a rental model I could understand, but ffs.

re:Overclocking

Why would you need to? Everything ran like a dream.

As it did with the speccy, the CPC's....

Hell pretty much everything prior to the 8088, and even most of the x86 line stuff was fine until Windows 3.0 hit critical mass....

Firmware

Likewise, I'd personally be happy to ditch my DVD recorder if the wii had DVD playback. I rarely if ever use the recording function, and it's an irritating little box I can never find the remote for. Also it'd free an AV input to cable my PC to for the heck of it.

That said if it's not just a firmware update it would surprise me heavily, & indeed wind me up a bit. The 'green' angle must exist too, especially given the volume of wii sales even if maybe only 5-10% decide to ditch their DVD players as a result.

I won't get a xbox, I can't really justify a ps3 at the mo (the cell processor looks cool but that's about it), and while I could ditch the player and use the PC for playback I'd rather just throw the disk in than wander to the other end of the room etc etc....

So where's that firmware Nintendo? :)

Licence fee

Licence fee non-payment should be officially stated to be defensible on grounds that the services are unavailable due to a decision of the BBC.

I'd include those that pay the licence fee and don't have a computer too (though no doubt a lower number than the ~3-4% of linux users out there)

If they want to avoid the cost of developing for ~5% of those that have no choice but to fund it, then they should gain the choice to avoid contributing to it. Anything else seems highly unethical.

Windows security

Ok fine, so it is possible to have a more secure setup than running as admin, but I honestly don't believe I know of a single windows user who uses a limited account day to day who is not forced to because they have no admin account. This ranges from lusers to IT consultants.

Why? Software on the platform expects full reign. It's easier to run as admin than go without flakey software.

But why? Lazy developers? Or just historical? Or "backward compatibility"? (yeah, bit of +ve spin...)

I'll say all three. And this probably accounts for well over 95% of these instances.

ISPs are great for impeding the spread of knowledge?

The basic point is, if you're only allowed to surf basic websites and spend an hour a week on youtube, the ISP should make that clear in the contract.

I really do not see why most people are defending the ISP here. If this were a flight, and your seat had a 2:1 contention ratio, and the other user was ~35 stone, would the discomfort be his fault for being fat or the airlines for being stupid enough to sell capacity for one person to two people?

Anyone heard for example of Project Gutenberg? If not look it up. Then tell me why we can't distribute using bittorrent protocol. Likewise any linux distro. Likewise other software or creative works released under e.g. GPL, BSD licence, under creative commons, or similar.

I agree people who don't use p2p should get what they paid for from their ISP. I also believe people who do use p2p should as well. And I believe if the ISP can't supply what it has sold it should sort out its capacity or refund people and release them from their contracts.

@You are the weakest link

They were on it in the first place??

Why the obsession with one medium?

Surely reason would have to follow that the same 'filtering' would have to take place for other media - books, paintings, sculpture, radio etc.

First of all you could destroy any artistic works containing violence or nudity (Romeo and Juliet amongst other 'smut' perhaps? Most Disney cartoons?). Of course you'd then need to police new works - perhaps a state body to authorise any book publications, and to publish itself a list of 'authorised forms' to portray in other artistic forms.

I think the germans had something similar in the late 1930's, & their economy was pretty strong at the time so it must have been a good plan.

Title

"It suffers from limited driver, multimedia and power management support. The Linux community is, as always, beavering away on these issues and may well make something Windows comparable by 2020."

Really? I can push more fps from my graphics card under linux than with a similar card under windows, the sound support is fantastic, power management/CPU scaling is all good.

Why on earth would we be aiming to be 'windows comparable'?

Attribution

Source attribution I can more than understand wanting - whether it's in the licence or not, it's pretty cold to remove the original developers' name from the code. But having to have a big 'powered by Fettware' logo (no doubt not a small one either) will probably be a hinderance to adoption in the corporate arena. Not that I'd care too much whether the corporate arena wanted to use my software, but these guys seem to want them to.

FAO Fraser

Hi Fraser, et al.

Ok here's a breakdown. If I write some code, then release it under a licence (which I'm nice enough not to charge you for), you can use it within the terms of that licence.

If that makes me a zealot, I guess MS and all the big software houses are too, since they seem to think licence compliance is important too.

How do I expect big business to use GPL software? Who knows, the same way I expect them to use anything else they have access to the source code for, namely however they like within the licence they have.

If a big business is making 2% less profit because of my licensing decision, I'm not about to lose any sleep over it. If they decide it's cheaper to pay for some proprietary software (which they probably either can't customise, or would have to pay a third party to do so) instead, that's their decision. If they DO want to use my software, sure no probs, just comply with the licence.

So, bottom line, big business is probably more interested in open source than vice versa, and big business usually is very careful with regards to complying with software licensing terms. They just need to extend this thinking to open source.

re: Copyright doesn't cover it

Not sure I can see the logic here. If I buy a car with a GPS system that's essentially a (mips | x86 | whatever) computer, don't like the GPS software so replace it, you'd say I'd infringed on the car manufacturers patent(s) relating to the car design?

I've really missed something...

Ok, well after SCOSource I guess it's an old question, but since when does the liability for patent infringement rest with a customer anyway??

Even *if* there are *valid* patents infringed in {random open source app}, why should anyone other than the person who added the infringing material care? That person would be liable, not Dave from Essex who downloads a knoppix CD, or an office that implements a few LAMP servers, that's just... Well, stupid....

biggest loophole in the world?

Ok, let's assume this goes through. Lets assume somehow it gets enforced (acknowledged to be no trivial task...).

Lets say I decide one day I'm a bit bored and want to put up a massive porn site for no particular reason. I register a domain name, then stick a site on port 80 with meta-refresh to port xxx and no other (i.e. no pornographic) content.

Perfectly 'legal', and functionally identical to serving off port 80 to the end user.

So what's the objective again?

Another blow for the sith

Well, here we go. Everyone knows the only people who can afford an armoury full of 6th centuary katanas are Sith lords.

I've a number of 'cheap replica' swords (well, not that cheap, but I'd guess they are for these purposes). I can't recall ever wandering out of a night to run through some vagrants, and collect them for the same aesthetic reasons people collect 'genuine' (i.e. older) oriental weaponry, combined with the fact I'm not quite able to throw £50k towards my interest in them. Frankly I'd rather face some unskilled yob with a cheap, half tang jobby than a wiley old aristocrat with a 5th centuary blade and 20 years of practice.

And like others have said, since when has the underworld ever had trouble obtaining what it needs? That gun ban's working out nicely still I see...