imo, one of the worst things that ever happened to the web was adobe (actually macromedia, which adobe purchased.) but that almost worked out fine.

the worst thing that ever happened to the web? url shorteners. the one that freeforums uses is nothing but a nuisance-- twitter needs them, these forums dont. but the last straw was today when it broke the url i was posting in two different ways. ive actually taken to posting urls in code tags (where theyre no longer clickable!) just so they can be viewed and copied properly. but this url is hopeless:
granted its a really awful url. but what freeforums does to it practically requires a forensics expert to put it back together into something you can visit. you need a url shortener to get past the freeforums url shortener! or perhaps i can out-clever this stupid thing and use the url tags to post it properly. hey, if thats what it takes:


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/H-20734-2%20G.E.%20225%20Computer%20-%20Data%20Processor%20%282%29.jpg"
linktext was:"http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/H-20734- ... %20(2).jpg"
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-- edit: oh, finally! its taken a year but ive found a way around the way freeforums handles urls...

I simply use the hand coded forum tags.
Example: But some sites do not use the full use of the bbcode.

figosdev wrote:...
the worst thing that ever happened to the web? url shorteners. the one that freeforums uses is nothing but a nuisance--

As you of course know, figosdev, this is just one step in the direction of computer system obfuscation, which is inflicting the industry like a plague. As everyone here knows, systemd was another such step.

Obfuscation and centralized control and authority is the trend, and it's often advanced by unethical and violent notions about a creation of the state called IP ("intellectual property").

But there are reasons for hope. I became a Linux user in the early Red Hat and Slackware days. Here in the states, I don't think I've ever witnessed a period with more people adopting Linux! I'm not studying any statistics or polls on the matter; it's just my personal impression.

calinb wrote:intellectual property

the"p" stands for"prohibition." of course the whole notion of"ip" is at odds with the constitution, article i section 8. but the constitution is merely the charter of the united states government; some companies are (at least on a given day in court) larger than the united states or able to puff themselves up large enough to take over certain aspects of it that seem to keep the constitution... limited. pity, as its supposed to work the other way around.

But there are reasons for hope. I became a Linux user

i LOVE linux! it keeps my clothes bright and smelling fresh so i can feel good when im using my gnu-based operating system __{{emoticon}}__ heh.


credit:
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i dont actually care what people call it per se, i have my own reasons to lean towards"gnu." that said, im no longer a card-carrying member of the fsf. i havent gone (back) to the other side (i will tell you this-- east coast/west coast has as much to do with computing as it does with hip-hop) but i used to be"open source." im free software, but i dont give the fsf money anymore because they attack free culture with their absurd pro-no-derivs propaganda. other than that? theyre right 99% of the time about almost as many things. stallman is a frustrating person to talk to, but i will take him over esr any day. bruce perens is the man! intellectual freedom ftw.

figosdev wrote: the"p" stands for"prohibition." of course the whole notion of"ip" is at odds with the constitution, article i section 8. but the constitution is merely the charter of the united states government; some companies are (at least on a given day in court) larger than the united states or able to puff themselves up large enough to take over certain aspects of it that seem to keep the constitution... limited. pity, as its supposed to work the other way around.

I refer to the U.S. Constitution (or any nation's Constitution, Bill of Rights, laws, etc.) as"IOP" (Ink on Paper). As merely such, IOP holds no actual power and it can be quite successfully ignored, as it commonly is in the U.S. today. IOP means nothing. Geesh, most of the despots and murders of the world have historically created wonderful sounding IOP (propaganda) that conveyed a completely opposite sentiment to their very violent actions! As is often said, actions speak louder (truth) than words. Actions are real. IOP (and concepts in general), are myths!

figosdev wrote: i dont actually care what people call it per se, i have my own reasons to lean towards"gnu."

I often say GNU/Linux too, but my panties usually stay bunch-free over the matter, except perhaps when people call Android Linux! __{{emoticon}}__ Android may leverage the Linux kernel, but it's just too far removed, philosophically and in form and function, from what has made the Linux (and GNU) movement great and, perhaps even more significantly, what people typically believe to be the meaning of"Linux" (an OS and not just a kernel).

figosdev wrote:that said, im no longer a card-carrying member of the fsf. i havent gone (back) to the other side (i will tell you this-- east coast/west coast has as much to do with computing as it does with hip-hop) but i used to be"open source." im free software, but i dont give the fsf money anymore because they attack free culture with their absurd pro-no-derivs propaganda. other than that? theyre right 99% of the time about almost as many things. stallman is a frustrating person to talk to, but i will take him over esr any day. bruce perens is the man! intellectual freedom ftw.

I'm all for"free" in everything! By that, I mean free and voluntary (non-violent) markets and human interactions. If software is created and distributed via free and voluntary relationships between producers and consumers, I'm all for it. Sometimes that means it's GNU. Sometimes it means closely held, hidden, or obfuscated trade secrets. But it never means IP. IP are concepts created by the corporate state to fool people into empowering their rulers and masters within the state and the state's privately held corporation partners. I also think the system may be accurately labeled,"Economic Fascism."

I also like to say"capitalism is okay" (capitalism can be embraced with entirely voluntary transactions) but"corporatism is violence," because corporatism exists only in the context of the state.

calinb wrote:IOP (and concepts in general), are myths!

myths have power. corporations are myths, too. money is also iop, and these days its not even iop, its oaz (ones and zeroes.) wealth is something different, and money is used to count or express it.

except perhaps when people call Android Linux! __{{emoticon}}__ Android may leverage the Linux kernel, but it's just too far removed, philosophically and in form and function, from what has made the Linux (and GNU) movement great

we dont have to agree. i think android is really a *perfect* expression of what linux stands for-- which is why i dont ultimately like"linux." android and systemd are both examples of what you get when you"trust" open source (instead of freedom.) and open source types think its great. i think its like cable ties-- plastic handcuffs arent as bad as metal ones, but theyre not really something to celebrate.

i wouldnt bash linux as a kernel, though. its not only good enough for me, its the only kernel i can make real use of for general purpose computing. yeah, bsd is close, but nothing i can do with it suits my needs, including hardware. and my hardware support needs are modest-- i tend to stay away from binary blobs! nor would i bash bsd, despite what i just said about my personal uses. its obviously very high-quality stuff!

figosdev wrote:

calinb wrote:IOP (and concepts in general), are myths!

myths have power. corporations are myths, too. money is also iop, and these days its not even iop, its oaz (ones and zeroes.) wealth is something different, and money is used to count or express it.

We are talking about semantics and philosophy here, of course. Myths and concepts only influence power (action) in how they influence peoples' actions. They are no more real than peoples' dreams (and peoples' actions are sometimes motivated by dreams too)! I claim things like ideas, governments, concepts, thoughts, myths, etc. exist only in peoples' minds. Thus, only peoples' actions are real. Action is where the rubber of thought meets the road! Without action, the contents of peoples' minds are moot, and therefore obviously powerless. Action wields the power, regardless of the thoughts that motivate it. Sometimes the action to communicate IOP (publish it, pass legislation, etc.) does influence peoples' actions, but often people ignore it and act contrary to it anyway! The IOP is not the root of any power. Peoples actions (including acting because they believe in IOP), is the source of power. Maybe I can dig up a citation or reference that conveys this idea better than I do here.

figosdev wrote:we dont have to agree. i think android is really a *perfect* expression of what linux stands for-- which is why i dont ultimately like"linux."

I understand your point. Most people are not fully describing the object they are talking about when they say"Linux." A more complete description would be GNU/Linux (or even the precise distro and rev. level or moniker ("Trusty,""Berta Cáceres," etc. __{{emoticon}}__ ). I don't actually have a strong preference about the usage of the term"Linux." I don't really care much about people calling Android Linux.

i call fig os, fig os. i also tell people its a gnu/linux distro. i dont call it"fig gnu/linux os" because unlike linux, i think fig os does stand for the sorts of things gnu does. but"gnu" is a useful signifier; no one that uses it tends to abuse it. in fact they removed"gnu linux" from debians website around march 2012, years before systemd happened to it. internet archive will pin that date down to the week or month.

people laughing and mocking people for not being able to avoid a new piece of software on the debian mailing list-- theyve totally abandoned what they were about, and think people wont care about the shift in attitude. when youre that arrogant and then you screw up something basic like mounting vfat without a reboot... anyway, we are already on the same page about that thing. to answer your question:"Maybe I can dig up a citation or reference that conveys this idea better":


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"The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture 'This is a pipe', I'd have been lying!" René Magritte

figosdev wrote:
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Thanks for sharing the links! Yes. I guess Disney was probably one of the first to create a hyperreality. Now we are starting to see the bio-mechanical human interfaces advance sufficiently to take it to the next level! ("The Matrix?")

the matrix was a metaphor, it exists with or without the computers and bio-interfaces.

that said, i walked into a shop the other day and i was sure people were speaking something other than english (that by itself is not too weird in this town.) when i walked out the same two people were there speaking english. i instantly thought of parts of the film where things like that happened.

figosdev wrote:the matrix was a metaphor, it exists with or without the computers and bio-interfaces.

Yes--I see it as a metaphor rooted in"I think, therefore I am!"

they threw in a lot of stuff about everything. but i think morpheus explained it when he said its the stories we tell ourselves."You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."

the matrix is the blue pill (the blue pill does nothing at all, it just leaves neo in the matrix. the red pill gets him out to look at the real world.) overly simplistic interpretation or a really good way to describe how everyone excepts a handful of fictions in life as though theyre only natural, subjective or of perfect logic rather than (nearly) arbitrary cultural habits? we are the stories we tell ourselves. oh wait, you did say that last part.