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Interesting

"It's potentially huge -- if a tool has other, legal uses, the fact that it violates copyright might not make it illegal."

This has been the law of the land for some time:

"The sale of copying equipment, like the sale of other articles of commerce, does not constitute contributory infringement if the product is widely used for legitimate, unobjectionable purposes, or, indeed, is merely capable of substantial noninfringing uses."
-- US Supreme Court, Sony v Universal Studios

The Court's opinion was based on over 50 years of legal precedent.

Great info. Could you add me to your flag list?

"It looks like McLauglin is turning into quite a prophet."

I hardly ever watch the show anymore, but back in the early to mid 80s, The McGlaughlin Group and WFBjr's Crossfire were the ONLY conservative news programs on the tube. Fred Barnes, Mort Kondracke, Tony Blankely and so many other regulars on Fox News got their start on TMG.

As time went on, his personality began to annoy me, and by the early 90s there were more conservative voices, so I slowly drifted away from his program. Nevertheless, I'll still pause for a few minutes and check out what's going on, when I come across his program while flipping through the channels.

"I smell more than just Worldcom."

Over the weekend, I caught the last segment of "The McLaughlin Group," the part where everyone gives their predictions. John McLaughlin's prediction was something like:

"over the next 6 months there will be revelations of at least 10 more accounting scandals involving major corporations" (paraphrased)

If there are 9 more of these to come, I wonder what the Dow and Nasdaq will look like?

"Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market" by James K. Glassman, Kevin A. Hassett'

Anyone wanna buy my copy?

Good catch!

"The majority of office workers are "point and click" users that don't have the slightest idea of how to manage simple taks like connecting to a printer. Finding the START button is an arduous tak for some of these folks."

Thank you for so clearly articulating Microsoft's attitude toward its customer base. It is one reason why I'm a Linux user.

Over the weekend, I caught the last segment of "The McLaughlin Group," the part where everyone gives their predictions. John McLaughlin's prediction was something like:

"over the next 6 months there will be revelations of at least 10 more accounting scandals involving major corporations" (paraphrased)

If there are 9 more of these to come, I wonder what the Dow and Nasdaq will look like?

Dow 5000?

"Universal intends to release tens of thousands of songs for 99 cents each through a number of online retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy. Full albums could be downloaded for $9.99."

Since most new releases only have 1 or 2 good songs (the rest is filler) I'd be willing to pay 99 cents to download the one song I like.

So much for "proprietary software is inherently more secure than open source."

From the link you provided:

"The most important reason for LFS's existence is teaching people how a Linux system works internally. Building an LFS system teaches you about all that makes Linux tick, how things work together, and depend on each other. And most importantly, how to customize it to your own taste and needs."

I can see some value in this. I might give this a try.

Also of interest:

"Another advantage of a custom built Linux system is added security. You will compile the entire system from source, thus allowing you to audit everything, if you wish to do so, and apply all the security patches you want or need to apply. You don't have to wait for somebody else to provide a new binary package that fixes a security hole. Besides, you have no guarantee that the new package actually fixes the problem (adequately). You never truly know whether a security hole is fixed or not unless you do it yourself."

This a good counter-argument to all of the "open source is too insecure for government use" propaganda flying around. This is exactly the approach I would expect a government agency (or anyone else concerned with security) to take.

Thanks for a very interesting link. This what I love about FR - so many knowledgeable people.

"I simply believe in the Open Source movement; I think that it is improving our lives, and its fun."

So do I. At first, building executables from source was a bit intimidating, but once you get the hang of the "configure-make-install" dance it is - as you say - fun. Besides, most open source software is highly configurable - I get to create a build tailored to my needs.

As I become more adept, I hope to begin "pulling my weight" in the community by submitting by own hacks and extensions.

"I'm still on Win98 and NT4. I'll give Win2k another year or two before I trust it."

I give credit where it is due, and I think Win2000 is a good OS. It is very stable, and the user interface is well-designed.

The "product activation" feature is what turned me away from XP. And word of a future "subscription service" is what motivated me to start experimenting with Linux. For that, I suppose I owe Bill Gates a "thank you."

As a web surfing, email and word processing OS for the average user, I'd say it's about there, tho.

I'm a big fan of Linux - I've been using it for about 6 months, and have experimented with the RedHat, SuSe and Debian distros.

I primarily use Octave and other scientific/engineering computational tools. There is lots of great open source software for scientists and engineers.

I am a bit disappointed by the lack of a good office suite. I am definitely NOT a fan of StarOffice. The v5.2 loads awfully slow, and I find it rather awkward. And guess what - OpenOffice1.0 was built on the original StarOffice!

Some say that applixware is a good suite, but I haven't tried it yet.

Currently, I have both Linux and Win2000 on my home computers. I'll probably keep Win2000 for "legacy" MS software; however, I'll never buy another MS operating system again. I'm anxiously waiting for a real Linux app that rivals MS Office.

"So - skipping commercials makes you a common criminal. So does fast-forwarding your VCR (past commercials), going to the fridge or the restroom, changing the channel.... or perhaps-even diverting your attention from the advertisment currently playing on your idiotboxen."

Anyone remember a TV show from the 80s - Max Headroom?

In a nutshell, the show portrayed a future society ruled by the networks. I remember one episode where the police were searching a woman's apartment:

She's installed an on/off switch! (on her TV) shouted one police officer.

She'll do hard time for that! exclaimed his partner.

Another case of art imitating reality?

What's next? Will they demand that I install a toilet that won't flush during a commercial?

For Goodness Sake! Don't give them any ideas!

Be careful - in times of war you could be labeled an "enemy combatant."

Don't you know? Open source is un-American. Bill Gates said so.