Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system


Forgot your password?

Comment: Re: What the hell is wrong with Millennials?! (Score 3, Insightful) 465

by bazmonkey (#48589771) Attached to: Peru Indignant After Greenpeace Damages Ancient Nazca Site

At the heigh of WWII the Nazi party had 8 million members. That's .4 per cent of the world population of 2 billion. No where near "a good chunk."

The original post blindly labeled my entire generation as hipster, gentrifying assholes. The same argument comes to mind.

Comment: Re:Ugh (Score 1) 125

by bazmonkey (#48556221) Attached to: Unity 8 Will Bring 'Pure' Linux Experience To Mobile Devices

Just because you can have a touchscreen on a desktop monitor doesn't make it a good idea.

Then don't use it.

Some of us don't like having smudges on our screen. Some of us don't like holding our arm out in mid-air just to move the pointer and to select things.

. . . Then don't use it. Did someone steal your mouse???

Some of us can't even reach our desktop display when sitting at a comfortable reading distance.

I'm begininng to notice a pattern. I don't believe any touch-capable desktop/laptops have prevented you from using your frumpy pointer tools of yesteryear.

A touchscreen is a dumb idea for anything other than a tablet. I'm speaking as a developer who developed touch-screen point-of-sale systems since 2001.

Speaking as a former user of touchscreen POS systems, I hate you. That aside, you have blinders on if you can't imagine that there are indeed useful situations for having a touchscreen available. I understand the parent post was talking about a desktop, but in replying you seem to have glazed over laptops, where the screen is not very far away, where dragging/dropping, photo editing, etc. is often more pleasant with a touchscreen than a touchpad.

ARM is going to be a serious contender for laptops soon. Devices will get lighter, and the distinction between tablet and computer will blur. Get ready AC, brush off your floppy disks and adjust the v-sync on your monitor (hope it's not too far away to reach!): times are changing.

Comment: Re:Don't fight it (Score 1, Troll) 720

by bazmonkey (#48487547) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Making a 'Wife Friendly' Gaming PC?

Welcome to reality, my friend. When you find someone who expects sacrifices out of you that you can afford to make, and will sacrifice for you unnecessarily when it matters more to you, marry that person.

Precisely the reason I believe men and women, or more generally no intimate relationship between two humans, should never reside under the same roof unless each person lives in a separate side of a duplex house.

Once you enter puberty and actually want to spend your life with someone, let us know how this strategy works out. I suppose the children go in the *other* side of the duplex, right?

Comment: Re:Don't fight it (Score 5, Insightful) 720

by bazmonkey (#48487467) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Making a 'Wife Friendly' Gaming PC?

Apparently it doesn't work the other way around, though. There seems to be a double standard where people are expected to make all sorts of completely unnecessary sacrifices to appease some control freak partner, but the partner doesn't take into account the other person's feelings, as if their own are any more important.


Comment: Re:Wow... (Score 1) 647

by bazmonkey (#48487253) Attached to: Debian Forked Over Systemd

systemd is ... what... 35 TIMES LARGER THAN sysvinit. So, specifically, the junk code I am refering to is that, exactly. wtf... 35 times increase in bloat... is systemd 35 times better? Does it save you 35 times the time that sysvinit costs you? This increase in code does not justifiy what it can do. Its a big big warning sign. But... I guess if you're lazy, its worth it.

"Lazy" is sticking with sysvinit because it's the familiar option. I think you're underestimating the benefits systemd offers--especially for package maintainers--as well as the complexity of many modern systems. Sysvinit's only advantage is portability to other Unixes, that's it. Boot time is the beginning of its shortcomings, not the end.

Comment: Re:Wow... (Score 1) 647

by bazmonkey (#48487153) Attached to: Debian Forked Over Systemd
I wonder why the init system choices can't be configured to be more like Desktop Environments -- from the install media you choose which DE you want from a boot parameter and done. That way, even then default is systemd or gnome, people can still go on with their lives in a simple and easy manner.

Because it's not a simple drop-in replacement like a desktop environment. Interoperability between init systems is nonexistent; they aren't meant to be switched around. Moreover, a big plus to systemd is that the OS-specific details of daemon management is abstracted in systemd's unit files, so that it only needs to be written once for any distro that uses systemd. Maintaining the ability to switch between init systems defeats much of the reason for switching in the first place.

What I find funny about this whole init/systemd debacle is that before systemd came and tossed things up, distributions rarely provided the ability to switch init systems... and no one really cared. The root of the debate is NOT that we're losing the ability to switch, it's that Linux offers things like kdbus and cgroups and constructs that are useful, but that don't have direct substitutes on other Unix systems. We're at a crossroads between utilizing advanced features of the kernel, and maintaining compatibility with a more legacy way of doing things. What's worse, any alternative to systemd that achieves what it does will inevitably run into this problem. To keep sysvinit around, compatibility aside, is to stick with a decidedly sub-par solution to system management. Sure it worked, sure it manages to work now, sure it works in lots of places... but it's not at all the best way to do it.

Comment: Re:Fantastic! (Score 2) 523

by bazmonkey (#48486563) Attached to: Finland Dumps Handwriting In Favor of Typing
They're getting rid of cursive. It's not a big deal.

I disagree. I learned to write cursive in school, and did so in all school assignments except reports until college. My little sister and brother did not have to learn cursive, and even their manuscript is lousy. They write noticeably slower than I (I am left-handed and they are not, their handwriting should be better than mine).

I understand it's not necessary like it used to be, in that formal documents are typed nowadays, but I think it should still be taught. At the least, there should be just as much of an effort into developing a child's handwriting skills, even if it isn't cursive. It is a fine motor skill that is best developed during childhood, and I don't know of any other activity we require children to learn that provides a similar ability.

The same argument goes for teaching long division: it's not that you'll need it per se, but the ability to do it offers benefits beyond merely crunching numbers.

Comment: Re:This baffles me... (Score 4, Informative) 236

by bazmonkey (#48326023) Attached to: CNN Anchors Caught On Camera Using Microsoft Surface As an iPad Stand
I agree entirely. For me it was the power management: native Linux just doesn't come close to OS X's performance. We're talking a nearly 50% hit.

I enjoy OS X just fine, but between work and tinkering, I still need to be on Linux quite a bit. I have found a Linux VM inside OS X to be the most pleasant Linux experience on a Mac I've ever had. Free of driver hassle, OS X goodies are just a swipe away, and I still see much of the battery life that drew me to a Macbook in the first place.

Assuming the Surface Pro 3 could handle the VM (I have no idea), I would be all over that if I was in the market again.

Comment: Re:Yesbut does it run Linux (Score 1) 236

by bazmonkey (#48325947) Attached to: CNN Anchors Caught On Camera Using Microsoft Surface As an iPad Stand
Coming from my experience getting Linux on MacBooks, I would be worried about the battery life taking a significant hit running natively on a Surface Pro. Part of the wet dream of Linux on such a device (mine at least) is the long run time, and Linux never seems to do quite as well. There's going to be bluetooth headaches, I don't think the stylus will work completely (if I recall reading up on it correctly), etc.

Linux in a VM on a modern OS X installation is the most pleasant experience I've had using Linux on a Mac... and I use it often. It gives me significantly more battery life than running it natively, no flaky wifi/bluetooth support, and OS X goodness is a swipe away. As long as it's fast enough for your needs, it might be worth not having to worry about driver support and still getting some of the power management the original OS offers.

Something like a Surface Pro is useful for its convenience, not its raw power, right? If I offered you a Surface that will be a total hassle to work with Linux, or a Surface that was a bit slower but would work in Linux without a hitch, wouldn't you take the latter?
