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zero0w

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  1. I think more exactly is that SCO saw a few pieces of identical code between the two kernels and then implied Linux contributors stole from it. Some of these pieces, such as XFS, certainly was not owned by SCO; but as ESR pointed out, programmers who have been working with both code base might have done some causual copying; however SCO still needs to argue the identical code is of SCO's origin, not from IBM or SGI. HP, IBM and other who are SysV licensees do have some duty to make use of the source comparator to find out the identical part which (1) is SysV origin; (2) is their own contribution to Linux Kernel; (3) is NOT their own patented / copyrighted code. (4) is NOT found in the Unix source released in BSD license. Only code that is satisfied with all 4 criteria above will really need to be removed. As we can see, this is not an easy job, and I doubt the amount of code that would fit all 4 criteria above is in anyway huge.

  2. SGI did make use of the source comparator from ESR.

    I think as far as SGI is concerned, it has covered its ass and performed in good faith the duty of internal audit of its own source contribution.

     

    However, Blake Stowell's response seems to suggest that SCO's attack has no real direction; he simply suggests a line by line comparison was not "trivial" - in other words, it could be impossible for his company to do just that (and its claim of 1 million copied lines is absolutely BS in the light of this comment). I don't think SCO has any idea of whom it is going to sue but just keep saying of such meaningless threats. Each source contributor (company) who has licensed to use System V source code should make use of ESR's souce comparator to remove tainted code, if any of these could be found - however, SGI's action does not suggest any true violation as a System V licensee, as the 'arguable code' was released in BSD license earlier.

  3. I can only hope when the Borland C++ BuilderX comes out for Linux, it will really support native wxWindows - which works pretty good on Audacity, Bittorrent GUI client and a few other apps. In that case, a native toolset might have a better chance to come out. It is to my knowledge that Kylix 3 still made use of WINE but in a obscure way.

  4. What is "native PDF export"? In OO.o 1.0.x, under the Print menu, Tthere is an option `print to PDF'. It never worked for me though, it always produces a postscript file while giving it the .pdf extention. Was that a known bug or is something broken on my system? No point to upgrade until that is fixed then:-).

     

    This feature is more useful to Windows users, because they don't have this option you mentioned in Windows version of OO.org 1.0.x.

     

    Yes, Linux can do PS/PDF export for years for almost any applications running on it.

  5. No problem.

     

    Here comes the official annoucement:

     

    http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/10/01/15...13.shtml?tid=15

    http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/1.1.0/

     

    This new version supports better MS Office filters, PDF export and Flash export (from PowerPoint / Impress presentation). A few other new formats are being supported as well. This new version also has much improved startup time.

     

    OpenOffice.org1.1 toolbar icon themes

    http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=7131

  6. I think I now get your meaning.

     

    Once again, I believe if the prerequisite of "the product doesn't suck" is satisfied, I will tend to support products with more commitment to Linux. However, as we shall see, it's not always a thumbs-up to manufacturers who want users to upgrade to new products - because kernel-based driver usually will not be obsolete when the hackers are around to port and hack them to run in newer kernels. In other words, stopping driver development to force hardware upgrades will not work on Linux, but it probably will work on Windows. Of course I do not consider it a good business practice to do this kind manipulative action to customers; but as we shall see, it might really reduce hardware upgrade incentives in the future.

  7. But back to this thread.....

    Am I the only one who gives a bit more weighting to a device that will work anyway, just becuause the same manufacturer has actively supported LINUX???

     

    No, not only you. I will only purchase Linux compatible hardware; and the folks at Hollywood seems to agree with both of us:

     

    http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/31707.html

     

    But there is a pre-requisite though that the hardware itself does not suck - and nVidia display card has very good OpenGL performance on Linux/Windows; until ATi has improved its Linux driver better, I am and will still be with nVidia.

  8. The problem is that not all people will take time to go out and write their own letters to Microsoft to ask for the settlement claim, or even know such procedure exists. While Lindows is trying to take advantage of this issue, what has Microsoft done to advertise the "right"/proper way for previous Windows users to secure their benefit thru the settlement claim? Does Microsoft want you to get your benefit approved by the Court?

  9. Let me see if I am getting it right.

     

    Are you trying to suggest Linux driver support would (or should) become a manufacturer advantage? Or customers' advantage? So that we should support such vendors/manufacturers with open source drivers than others without?

     

    Well, it is again an egg and chicken problem I believe. As customers and end users Linux support is always a plus because it gives more choice; but to hardware manufacturers being able to support Linux does not guarantee a competent product (network adapter would be one of the few exceptions since Linux/UNIX was designed for running in a network environment, unable to work under Linux is really unacceptable for such devices).

     

    As for manufacturer opting for standardization around USB (and any standard will come later) or opting for better driver support on its own, I don't see it makes a big difference just yet (except my SB Live! with MIDI support in ALSA :) ). However, where multimedia applications, such as color adjustment of scanning images/films, better integration of drivers with software will be a big plus. Because they almost worked hand in hand - in other words, a scanner should come with its own software or modules on top of open source software (GIMP/Xsane) to make it perform at its best.

     

    But as things stand, Linux was not considered a strong multimedia platform just yet (except for most highend 3d software which is running fine on Linux: Maya, Softimage and Houdini); the apps are not there - or are there but only very few notices (ask anyone who knows about Scribus?).

     

    As a result, I believe while Linux compatibility/support is important to ME, and I will only purchase Linux compatible hardware (since I run Linux only); this is not equivalent to support all Linux-friendly vendor in general - because, in the end, the functions, features and performance of the product must be considered. Now that Linux is catching momentum, I think to send a message "where Linux support will get more customers" is still important, but not as vital as it was several years ago. Because, I do think, without Linux support, vendors will find themselves down under. Whether it is thru generic interface or special (open source) driver to support Linux should become the norm in a few years, if not sooner.

     

    NOTE: Some USB MP3 players do mention Linux 2.4 kernel compatible, so I guess a Kernel version specificaton could work.

  10. My sister's USB MP3 player can be auto-detected under KDE on Mandrake Linux, and the salesman has no clue whatsoever about Linux support - nor anything on the retail boxes/manual has shown.

     

    I think at least for most USB devices the manufacturer should have some information regarding running them on Linux; it's almost no big cost whatsoever to do a few testing as USB is a standard interface. As for support, I believe it is still troublesome to some extent - again say, in my sister's experience, the USB MP3 player would disappear somehow when she runs Konqueror file browser in root user (Konquerorsu) mode. How to support this kind of weird situation ? (btw, a reboot without using Konquerorsu fix that).

     

    A mention on the box of Linux compatible should be nothing but good, but to offer official (Linux) support is still a big problem; unofficial online documentation/help would be a good start but anything further than that might just be a nightmare for the customer support services as Linux can be as diverse and complicated as nobody knows "what? You can do that this way" kind of discovery.

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