Soon.Why So Butthurt?!
I would just like to take a moment to talk seriously with the FSF and GNU trolls, whom ostracize anyone with an opinion other than theirs. As of late, there seems to be an unusually high amount of trolling from freetards towards some of their favorite "traitors", mainly Miguel de Izaca and David "Lefty" Schlessinger. Let's look over this latest troll attempt from five minutes ago.
Facepalm
So, it seems the new GNU way of trolling is Copyright Infringement? The same people that preach sharing and love?
There are days that I feel that I've woken up in Bizarro World (the Warner Bros. cartoon version, not the canonical version with reverse-speech.), but even that is a little too fucked up for comic book references.
But the bigger issue is: why are you so butthurt over a single email? Lefty posted it with your permission WHEN you gave his permission. You can't revoke what's already out there. You can piss and moan all you want, but he acted in accordance to your wishes. You don't get to stipulate derivative works when it's a FUCKING EMAIL. He intercut it with some comments. Guess what? So do most developers that pass emails around! It's a simple way of annotating their own thoughts into the work. You don't Creative-Commons a fucking email, there were two authors anyways!
In short, fuck off. You are a disgrace to the GNU community and a headache to the rest of us, except maybe Boycott Novell. I'll just assume Shitzforwitz had his hands down your pants when you started that little flamewar.
Good god. People are so fucking sensitive about the little shit.
Home Project
An ongoing discussion on the Linsux.org boards has piqued my interests. One of FreeBSD's big problems is that much of its code is dependent on the GNU toolchain and compilers. While one could argue that the GPL and BSD licenses can go together, we all can agree that the GPL puts BSD developers at a disadvantage. The GPL is more restrictive.
Petrus4 brought up an interesting point: if someone were to do an all-BSD (or similar to BSD) licensed system, how would one do it? The license rules out desktop software such as Gnome or KDE, although E17 is certainly still available.
So I decided as a test to first try seeing how well E17 runs on FreeBSD 8.0.
As you can see in the screenshot, I did it in VirtualBox as I'm still fairly unfamiliar with the inner workings of FreeBSD in general. Well, there's no better time to learn about the system than right now!
This was just a simple build from the Ports tree. Sadly, at the time I hadn't learned the "pkg_add -r [PACKAGENAME]" function, so I ended up doing a full on compilation that took three days (pulling dependencies from everywhere). Hey, it's all a learning experience, right? Anyways, it turns out the version of E17 in Ports is a little behind the current one, and so I'm looking at possibly building the latest E17 SVN in order to build all of the other third-party apps that use ETK.
I used the run-of-the-mill GNU tools, but the ultimate goal is to figure out if I can build everything using LLVM and Clang.
Wish me luck!
To My Ex.
This was when we were together.
This is me when I found out you were fucking your best friend.
NO WAI
And this is me after I realized you're cheating on him now, too.
Any questions?
Old Cartoons From Old Friends
I was reading some really really old blog entries of mine from a couple years back when I ran across these little comics done by a forum buddy that I had met through EBWS (eBaums World Sucks), and I figured they were too good to pass up. Terminatr3000, also known as Max Karls of his personal website LifeinSucksville. He had some really fun little work-in-progress Flash animations. Dunno where he is out in the great big world, but Max if you come across this, it's me, Alliance, from the old boards! (You know...the number three guy out of a community of thousands of 4Chan, Newgrounds, and SomethingAwful enthusiasts)
Anyways, he had showcased a series of short comics commenting on the hopeless boredom that is our lives, the aptly-titled "The Completely Uninteresting Life of Daniel McBoner"
Worth a look!
Common Sense: Why the FSF’s “Windows7Sins” Campaign is a Crock of Shit
Once again, people are ready to drink the GNU kool-aid. Hey, it was free, but there are a number of fallacies on this page that the FSF is playing up in their typical fundamentalist style. Instead of focusing on the potentials of how great Free Software is, the FSF is once again pulling out the old "Microsoft Scare Puppet", which in my mind resembles that creepy teacher puppet from the final scene of Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Except it's the FSF holding the strings, and Microsoft is the Puppet
Many of you readers just catching a glimpse of this from ident.ica may say that I'm being an "M$ Shill", because clearly liking a proprietary corporation in the FOSS world is the grounds for being ostracized or worse. Maybe a certain someone will write a self-citing article briefly mentioning it. If you disagree with me on my views, that's absolutely fine. However, troll me about it and I'll show you to the door.
Now, let's look at what the FSF is summarizing about Windows7, and see how they're playing things out of proportion.
1. Microsoft has been poisoning education with their Windows offerings, and will do it again with Windows 7.
Pray tell, how is Microsoft forcing this on anyone? Last I saw, it was the schools opting into Microsoft Educational discounts...the same discounts that have existed for many different OS'es and hardware ranging from Apple to HP and other OEMs. Although many argue that Linux is usable enough for education, the fact is that administration tools for education in FOSS are somewhat non-existent. Microsoft has well had a dominant platform because of how they market Windows, how they focus on usability at basic levels, and the fact that businesses and a majority of the workforce adopted with it. Logically speaking, no large corporation wants to invest precious time tinkering with setting a UNIX or Linux-based environment up across the board without making sure that their every need can be supported. Although many FOSS tools can replace functionality and even maintain compatibility with Microsoft products, the offerings at this time still fall short in some areas. It is up to the companies and schools to choose whether they want to adopt a Linux system or just go with an easier alternative.
2. Windows 7 is just like Vista and will enforce DRM, robbing you of your rights to own your own music.
Oh the horror! Oh..wait a minute. No it doesn't. It supports playback of DRM'ed files, but no one is forcing you to purchase and use DRM'ed formats. This argument takes things out of proportion: Windows Vista and Win7 are CAPABLE of playing DRM'ed files you may have bought, they don't make that STANDARD for all of your music files. If you import music onto or off of your Zune/iPod/Sansa, there is no DRM inserted into your music. It's your music, and Microsoft understands that. Don't like the Zune Music Catalog because of DRM? Choose not to use it. Windows is an open platform for development (just not at the source level), and you're free to use just about any music player you want to. With Amarok becoming increasingly more stable on the Windows platform, the range of choices is ever expanding.
To put the parable another way: Thanks to the work behind the xiph.org foundation, OGG playback is completely doable with native support in DirectShow. Does this mean Windows is forcing users to use OGG? No, it means OGG is an option and you have the POTENTIAL to use it.
3. Windows 7 is still insecure!
Actually, this is debatable at best. The FSF assumes that most users will use Windows in an insecure manner: downloading files illegally, opening up their firewall, and running as root. They don't take into account that Windows7 actually ships with firewall capabilities, virus protection, and the UAC which now functions about on par with Sudo. A system is only as secure as a user makes it, and you can't really solve the problem if a user is stupid.
Likewise, Windows still dominates the Operating System market. As such, it is the target platform for malicious code. This is where updated virus protection comes in. If Linux or Mac OS were farther into the mainstream, they too may feel security problems as more malicious hackers attempt to target their platforms.
4. Microsoft is an evil, evil corporation!
To quote the FSF's page:
"Microsoft has been found guilty of monopolistic behavior all over the world. With Windows Vista, Microsoft worked with PC manufacturers to significantly increase the hardware specifications for the standard user-experience, causing people to require new computers to run the updated OS."
-Windows7Sins Campaign
There's a flawed kind of logic with claiming this is a "monopoly action". In my eyes, I have absolutely no problem with it. A software vendor worked together with hardware vendors to increase performance, and consequently it required hardware upgrades? Oh, that's terrible! Obviously it's another way for The Man to keep you down right? Apple does this shit all the time, and all I see are people ogling some shiny computer with similar specs. If anything, that strikes me as striving to make hardware and software work well together, something most FOSS devs should take note of. There's no getting around the fact that Microsoft fucked up alot during the 90's, but guess what? Larger corporations that are "friendly" to FOSS have done worse things. IBM invested heavily in Hitler's Regime. (So help me God, if one of you calls Godwin's Law.)
5. Windows 7 doesn't support Free/Open Standards!
And why should they? It's not like they built heavily off your libraries. They made their own damn products the way they wanted. I myself dislike Internet Explorer 8 because it lacks compliance with the Acid3 test. But since you can remove it anyways, this is a moot point. You can install just about any browser you please that conforms to Acid3 standards, thus making your installation of windows support Open Standards. ODF Import/Export plugins exist for Office 2007, and it's been rumored that it's coming natively in Office 2010. So then, what exactly were you bitching about standards-wise?
6. Windows 7 is just another step in Vendor Lock-In!
No it isn't. You can go with it, or stick with older versions. Third-party software companies will not support you at some point, but you decided to stick with the crappier older version anyway. Regardless, you can replace the OS of any Windows machine you own if you really want to. FOSS applications regularly support older versions of Windows (and sometimes MacOS), so you can get supported applications to read .docx files (OpenOffice.org anyways, although some of the fundies will bitch about a different kind of evil about including compatiblity), and like stated above, MS Office 2007 and 2003 can be modified easily to support OpenDocument files. In fact, many universities are offering OpenOffice.org on Windows machines right next to the Microsoft counterpart.
7. But by installing it, your computer has to obey Microsoft's rules!
While it's true that the EULA prevents you from legally sharing the product, the fact is that it's a commercial product. Just like you shouldn't share that copy of Spore with 20 different people over Bittorrent, the same goes for proprietary operating systems. Other than that, though, you're pretty much allowed to modify your installation as much as you like. Your computer is obeying you, and those WGA tests that are done are just to verify that you didn't steal a copy like so many people do anymore. Didn't Stallman actually advocate against piracy?
Where It’s At
Been listening to a lot of Beck lately, so excuse the title.
There's been a lot going on at our site. We're hammering out some new details over banning in our updated Terms of Service. For the most part, we'd like to do something entirely opposite of communities such as the Ubuntu Forums. Many of the admins over there adhere to the "We ban because we can." mentality. Linsux.org is aiming for a more democratic stance. New members with a minimal amount of posts that violate the TOS will be banned immediately, but when a regular member violates our TOS the entire community will be able to weigh in and vote on whether a member stays or not.
Our testbed is still dealing with the best way to launch the new front-end for our site. Essentially, it's a Joomla CMS. We're looking at the ways we can adjust our content to retain a hard-hitting style whilst reaching a broader audience. As anyone who has started a news/media site can attest, it's a huge task. We have to deal with organization, usability, design, and most importantly content. Content is going to be the big turning point for us.
At its heart, Linsux.org was always intended to be a a satire site with a heavy dose of truth. After all, sometimes the best critics for the FOSS communities are those that keep tabs in the FOSS community itself. However, we've come to feel that Linsux needs to extend to fullfill that original purpose, rather than just keeping a small troll community. Granted, those "trolls" will still exist here, but the fact is that the important things will float to the top, i.e, the frontend. Those not willing to experience the harsher aspects of dealing with us can just read the front page and be on their merry way.
According to Nathan, quite a lot of work is being done with the theme and logo. It's going to be exciting to see what we come up with!
Ubuntu, I Am Disappoint.
It's no secret that I've been testing out Karmic for a while. Understandably, Karmic is up to Alpha 4, and shouldn't be used for production use. No secret, right?
Well, I've had a hell of a time today trying to get any sort of webcam application working on Linux. I tried Cheese, the popular GTK webcam app.
No dice. The "broken tv broadcast" image was in place of any sort of camera feedback.
"Okay," I thought, "I'll try updating to the latest packages."
Nothing different. A post on identi.ca led me to believe that it might in fact have something to do with the video driver, based on UVC. My Logitech QuickCam 9000 uses that driver for me, so it made sense to just compile the latest upstream code and replace the firmware, right?
Nope. Now it didn't even detect the camera. Defeated, I looked at what my other options were for getting the webcam to work.
Curiously enough, I came across my OpenSUSE 11.1 install disc that I got from the Novell reps at OSCON. One quick pop in the desktop and a sexy install later, I fired up Cheese again. It worked just fine. If anything, it was more responsive than the version Ubuntu ships.
For the time being, I'll be using OpenSUSE. 11.2 comes out in November with KDE 4.3, but it's possible to install it early if I really wanted to. I'm tempted. Also, I'm tempted to try out Moonlight Development in MonoDevelop, but I need to read the how-to again...
Coming Home.
I write this in the interest of this actually being posted in the Future. Currently, I am sitting on my lazy ass being a bum until my extended family returns to my grandparents house. Then, we're going swimming!
ROAAAAAAAAAAR
Let's hope no one gets hurt or morally offended like they did yesterday. Overall, this vacation has been kick ass. By vacation, I don't mean "Summer", most of Summer has been downright dull. No car means no job means no money means no beer means no party means no sex. If that is a difficult thing to grasp, then perhaps I might recommend you to read one of the simpler blogs designed for social retards.
We did some great things out in Arizona, oh the great things we did. I checked out the University of Arizona, where my grandparents met.
Fuckin' Nice!
Then we went spelunking in a very Scammy cave. It didn't take long, though the tour guide really liked droning on about the semantic bullshit of caves.
Feh. Not worth 11 bucks per person.
And so, coming around full circle, here I am.
My brother is the one on my left.
This post lacks a lot of substance and makes up for it in pictures. I'll leave it sitting in the queue while I pound out some good rants. What I'm REALLY waiting for is to get my OSCON pictures developed at Wal-Mart on my cheapo Polarioids. There's a series of good fucking rants behind those. Anyways, this will show up on Saturday. In the meantime, I'll be stuck on an airplane. If some freak accident happens on my way back and somehow kills me, I guess this would be a suitable goodbye from beyond the grave.
I wuv oo!
OSCON 2009: A Presentation That Scared Me Shitless
OSCON 09: Karl Schroeder, \"The Rewilding\"
What?! WHAT?! I'm sorry, but hold the fucking phone. Your "almighty vision" of the future is technology integrating into nature in the worst way possible, and you're happy about it?
You're nuts. It's understandable that we all lose ourselves from time to time, but you sir are off the deep end. This "Rewilding" is something that DOES NOT need to happen and SHOULD NOT ever surface. For those of you that didn't watch the video, let me bullet point some of his "enlightened" ideas for you. He wants this from the FOSS community. Also, keep in mind that I read a lot of depressing science fiction books in which mankind forever fucked the future up.
-"Sort of talking about Open Source", really? Fuck you. Who invited you to talk?
-Augumented Reality Glasses. Versions of the world you want to see: tagged, untagged. You can tune things out. Gosh, how could a totalitarian regime use that?
-Software agents working for you while you sleep. Unconscious computing? Fuck that.
-A bot that watches you and updates Twitter for everything you do? Filters, aggregators? WHY?! Destroy privacy?
-Overlay virtual reality over reality. Great.
-Robots do your investments. How can someone fuck THAT up?
-No political parties...nice at first, but then you get some fucking whacked semantics.
-"Your software understands you better than you understand yourself.", ew. No.
-Machines automate some corporations, and bill you. Didn't he just say money wasn't exchanged?
-Animals are all tagged and have their own websites. Everything is a fundamentalist, an advocate.
-Retarded term.
-Things get done by relinquishing control.
My point is, WHO WOULD WANT THIS FOR A FUTURE? This is a horrible lifestyle that could very easily be corrupted to invade your privacy. He continues to talk out of his ass about the environment, and does very little explanation of FOSS technology. Go fuck yourself, Karl Schroeder.