Re: Symptomatic of the FOSS problem
> The GPL is quite simple but has yet to be tested in a court of law
This is not true.
See, for example, Software Freedom Conservancy v. Best Buy, et al
Vic.
Posts by Vic
5860 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Dec 2007
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Open source author pulls code after GPL abuse
Wednesday 29th August 2012 13:20 GMT
Re: Symptomatic of the FOSS problem
> even IT- and licensing-literate commentards disagree about fundamental aspects of the GPL
That is because most people simply repeat what they have *heard* about the GPL, without actually reading what is in the licence.
You'll often see people swearing that GPL code cannot be used for commercial purposes, for example. That's simply not true - it can be. But PHBs around the world believe in their heart of hearts that if they want to produce a product, it cannot use GPL or LGPL code
Have a read of the licence. It's really quite simple. If what you read clashes with what you believe, it's worth considering that the text of the licence is more authoritative than Internet memes.
Vic.
Disable Java NOW, users told, as 0-day exploit hits web
Wednesday 29th August 2012 13:08 GMT
Re: From the sanctity of your little worlds ye proclaim...
> you obviously don't have to support a business that is forced to use sites or services that require java
I do - but there aren't many such businesses. Most sites[1] with Java applets have alternative methods of getting at the data as well, even if they're not quite as slick.
The biggest Java installations I deal with are servers - and they're invariable hidden behind an Apache reverse proxy, and are unlikely to be downloading stuff from the web in the first place.
Vic.
[1] I'm excluding games sites, since fartnig around with Java games doesn't really come under my definition of "business use".
Court confirms $675,000 fine for sharing 30 songs
Hotel keycard firm issues fixes after Black Hat hacker breaks locks
Want a Windows 8 Start Button? Open source to the rescue!
Tuesday 28th August 2012 08:30 GMT
Re: If only they would work on fixing Gnome....
> Cinnamon is really not a great replacement for Gnome 2.
I've found that Gnome2 is a good replacement for Gnome2.
Runs nicely on F16. I'll have to start trying F17 soon.
I was reading some rather depressing stuff about the Gnome project recently. I'd not be too surprised to see either a full-scale fork or an about-turn...
Vic.
Hunt vows: 'UK will have fastest broadband in Europe by 2015'
Sunday 26th August 2012 09:00 GMT
Re: What about upload speeds
> For the community at large SDSL is what is required not ADSL
Not so.
Look at the typical user's pattern - he will download at least an order of magnitude more than he will upload. ADSL is exactly right for that sort of user
Now of course, you can find exceptions - I am one myself. But we are the atypical users; almost everyone else needs ADSL. Repurposing bandwidth from downstream to upstream would simply mean their access would become slower for no improvement elsewhere, as that extra upstream bandwidth will simply be wasted.
Vic.
New nuclear fuel source would power human race until 5000AD
Councils launch eight spying ops on Brits A DAY using RIPA
Thursday 23rd August 2012 13:06 GMT
Re: Rubbish
> Your rubbish does not need collecting more frequently than once every two weeks
That's what my council said.
But since the move to fortnightly collection, we've had several rat infestations[1]. We didn't get them under weekly collection.
There's a connection there somewhere. I can't quite put my finger on it...
Vic.
[1] I live in a Victorian terrace. When the rats get in, *everyone's* got them :-(
Sex rating Facebook page publishers jailed
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 11:44 GMT
Is this right?
It's clear that these guys were total pillocks, but:
is it really proportionate to jail them for being offensive?
I would definitely go for jailing anyone with first-hand info on how good the children were - that's smiple [paedophilia - but jailing them for being rude about others?
This seems a little OTT for my liking...
Vic.
Merde! French Prez palace blueprints nicked from cable layer
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 09:04 GMT
Re: I still fail to understand.....
> why anyone carries sensitive data on an unencrypted USB device these days.
Because it is not sufficiently painful for them when things go horribly wrong.
So they are offered the choice between the pain of learning how to use encryption or - not dealing with any pain at all.
Guess which one they choose?
Vic.
UK watchdog snaps on glove to probe Tesco's 'security fails'
Wednesday 22nd August 2012 07:56 GMT
Re: Not just Tesco
> Not all servers are configured to send and receive email in a secure encrypted fashion,
> although most servers reject them if they don't
What?
Hardly any email is rejected if it's unencrypted. You need to turn that on explicitly, and only those with a need to do so will even find out how...
> The thing is with email, you can never be certain.
You *can* be certain. But most people[1] don't often feel the need to be certain.
Vic.
[1] Including me
White hat warns against iPhone SMS spoofing bug
Monday 20th August 2012 16:42 GMT
Re: Not the risk that its being made out to be
> I'd never reveal any personal info on an incoming call.
Some years ago, I got a call purportedly from my bank. They said they wanted to speak to me, and wanted me to verify who I was before they would.
"No chance", says I.
"Well, if we can't verify who you are, we can't continue the call" the other guy replied.
"You're calling me. You need to authenticate yourself to me..."
He didn't get it.
Vic.
Gov splashed £98k through CloudStore in July
Scientists find safer way to store hydrogen
Friday 17th August 2012 16:59 GMT
Re: True Cost/Efficiency
> For these people such a vehicle would be perfect.
Perfect *for their commute*. Useless for their holiday away.
And this is the nub of the transport problem: we don't have the ability to select vehicles according to our current requirements. We have to buy something that covers all or most of the bases we can foresee. That means that, with current technology, very few people are going to buy an electric car as their primary/only vehicle, even if it does cater nicely for >90% of their motoring requirements.
Stand on a bridge over the motorway some time. Watch the number of 4+-seater cars driving underneath with a single occupant...
Vic.
British boffin builds cool maser after argument with wife
Boffins say Vodka Red Bulls make you sensible
Friday 17th August 2012 07:26 GMT
Re: Reminds me of a saying my mother told me...
> Never feed Coffee (caffeine) to a drunk. All you get is a wide awake drunk
I was skiing in Italy a few years back. One day, I had a hankering for Black Russians.
We went to a bar which claimed to know everything about cocktails. He had to look up how to do a Black Russian - and then admitted he didn't have any Tia Maria, but he did have a local coffee liqueur, and wuold we like to try that? Of course we did.
The liqueur turned out to be an espresso liqueur. So three or four of these things later, we're all fairly mashed, but simultaneously ready to climb the walls...
Vic.
US appeal dismissed in Dotcom case
Office 2013 to eat own file-format dog food
Thursday 16th August 2012 12:21 GMT
Re: Naive
> Knowledge or information if you prefer exists regardless of whether its understood by
> someone or something at any given time
If that knowledge is not available to anyone, how can it be said to exist? If no-one in the world knows a given factoid, the knowledge is absent, even if it is still written down in a language no-one can understand.
> A course on philosophy wouldn't go amiss around here.
Indeed. Let us know how you get on, huh?
Vic.
Wednesday 15th August 2012 15:21 GMT
Re: "Office Open XML"
> will give problems when attempting to open using earlier versions of Office
If I'm trying to sort out incompatability problems between versions of Office, the most important tool in my toolbox is LibreOffice.
It has far fewer problems in that respect than does MS-Office...
Vic.
SurfTheChannel Brit movie pirate gets 4 YEARS' PORRIDGE
Wednesday 15th August 2012 12:08 GMT
> the simplest way of doing this would be to reduce the prices to the end customer
I don't think you necessarily need do that; what you need to do is to increase the perceived value/cost ratio to the consumer.
You can do that by reducing the cost, or by increasing the parceived value. This latter means not bashing out utter shite all the time, not stuffing the shelves with half-series box sets, not putting vast gobs of unskippable advertising/propaganda all over the DVDs, etc.
IOW, a bit part of the reason people make unlawful copies is because of the behaviour of the producers - both in treating their paying customers as criminals, and also as cash-cows.
Vic.
Can YOU crack the Gauss uber-virus encryption?
Wednesday 15th August 2012 13:15 GMT
Re: more info please (file name)
> The filename needs special character (basically anything non asci, except '~') in the path
Yes, that's why I suggested crowd-sourcing it. That gives you a much higher probability of having the target file on your system than doing the test in a single locale...
> it is likely to be targeting non English speaking country
Indeed. It would make sense to look for it in that sort of locale, then, wouldn't it?
Vic.
Wednesday 15th August 2012 08:19 GMT
Re: more info please
> The virus knows that it has found the right file because the cryptographic hash of
> the file name matches a value hard-coded in the virus
OK, I've not read the blog post, so this might be a somewhat misguided comment, but is this the sort of thing that could be crowdsourced?
If we've got the hash - and that's the bit I've not checked - it would be entirely possible to write a hash-checker, to test each file in the system against that hash and report any matyches. Distribute that program - with source, to satisfy us paranoid types - and see who reports matches, and against what...
It's a targetted brute-force attack; we can be reasonably sure that the hash will match a file on someone's computer.
Vic.
Saudi royals seek ban on .virgin, .sex, .catholic, .wtf and 159 MORE
Network sniffing algorithm could have fingered 9/11 suspects
Tuesday 14th August 2012 08:01 GMT
This is bullshit
If they want to "triangulate" to source of the data, they need to be able to inspect all data packets passing their listening nodes.
Thus the entire scheme is trivially subverted by a VPN. You transport your data packets over SSL to an exit point elsewhereville for release. If the system works as advertised, it takes the snoopers to the wrong country...
Alternatively, if you've got a bit more nouse than that, you use end-to-end SSL, and the system doesn't see any packets it can use.
Either way, what we've got - yet again - is a system that can only catch morons. If we're hunting morons, why haven't we caught them yet?
Vic.
Patent troll Intellectual Ventures is more like a HYDRA
Monday 13th August 2012 07:50 GMT
Re: What taxes are they evading?
> And usually that reason is tax evasion
Not in this case.
With a patent troll, a loss in court could imply a significant loss of assets - both IP[1] and money.
But by doing business[2] by way of these shell companies, a loss in court just means that the shell company goes bankrupt. The prevailing defendant gets *nothing*.
The effect is of litigation without risk; a win means mucho wonga, which is siphoned back to the parent. A loss means that the shell is discarded at minimal cost. There ought to be a law against it...
Vic.
[1] Ha!
[2] See [1]
AntiLeaks group claim responsibility for WikiLeaks attacks
Sunday 12th August 2012 08:39 GMT
Re: "young adults?" pffft....
> The mental image I get is one of a small group of single american men in their mid 40's
The mental image I get is Ben Elton presenting "Nozin' Aroun'"
There were elements of true brilliance in The Young Ones :-)
Vic.
BOFH: Our Excel-lent new boss and the diagram plan
Sick of juggling apps on biz PCs? This install tool will save your sanity
NASA’s new lander CRASHES AND BURNS
Friday 10th August 2012 16:02 GMT
Re: http://eternian.wordpress.com
> Theres a whole bunch of split gavity round here that needs cleaning up
Gravity, like so many other things, is soluble in ethanol.
This is why you can stand at strange angles after a skinful - the local gravity map is so distorted by the dissolved gravity in yuor bloodstream.
It's also why you tend to fall flat on your face - there's more gravity running around your system...
Vic.
Microsoft: It's not Metro, it's Windows 8
Valve opens Steam store to non-gaming software
HP writes down a whopping $8bn from EDS gobble
US Army's cloud-friendly iPad-ready intel kit DOESN'T even work
HP must throw its PC biz overboard to survive, says analyst
Thursday 9th August 2012 11:12 GMT
Re: Wall Street in slash and Burn shocker.
> Culture change would have to include the idea of pleasing customers
I had a meeting with HP a few weeks back.
Well, when I say "meeting", it was actually a monologue from the HP manager. No-one else got a word in. But I did learn 10^27 new management buzzwords.
He was most surprised to be told he hadn't understood our requirements...
Vic.
Software disaster zone Knight Capital bags $400m lifeline
Thursday 9th August 2012 08:14 GMT
Re: And since it’s just a testing program, it didn’t keep track of any of its activity...
> What happened is that the testing part was released into the wild with the RLP part
You have to wonder why the testing package wasn't on a physically separate machine which gets thrown into the canal once its job is done.
Surely someone must have thought about the risk of losing track of it...
Vic.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
