Re: MP criticises ID card opposition

Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

snip

(it's not the typing that I dislike about CLI tools, it's the bloody
documentation)

Think of it as a learning curve; the things you do often, soon become
almost instinctive.

But if you can't find out how to do them in the first place, you can't
do them and you can't do them and you can't do them. Which is the
position I'm in.

I don't see the problem; but then, I started out with text-only interfaces
to everything, and printed instructions ;))

So did I, back in the 1970s. But the required documentation is
unavailable these days as far as I can tell - manuals just don't get
written for most software. And don't talk to me about man pages -
they're useless unless you already know a lot about the software you
want to learn about.

There are plenty of Mac apps with no documentation at all. Apple's
current `documentation, supplied as `Mac so-called Help' is mostly
advertising with internet links to Web pages for further purchases in
many cases - much, much worse than the old Windows 3 `Help'. It's
*that* bad.

snip

It could become almost impossible to avoid what R M Stallman calls
'treacherous computing'
<http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=5858>
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4360793.stm>
<https://www.trustedcomputinggroup.org/about/members/>

<heh> Oh yeah? Do you think they'll put up with it in China? And what
about the Russians? They don't like being controlled. India might well
join in with one or other - or maybe both. And if so, that's a pretty
hefty chunk of the world's population that'll be going another way.

Not all 'trusted computers' will be trusted by the CIA, that's for sure.

I can't see them trusting TPM-equipped computers *at all* myself. btw,
I did one download the US National Security Agency guide to securing
your PC. The Windows section was amazingly baroque and clearly didn't
give you a very secure computer. The Mac section was surprisingly long
- but mostly consisted of instructions such as `Don't install the BSD
subsystem' `Don't install iTunes' `Turn on the firewall with these
settings' and so on. Seems they like Macs. And I do recall someone
from the CIA saying `If you want a secure computer, just get a Mac'.

(I suspect I've got some *very* secure computers here - who knows how to
hack into a Mac Plus these days? Especially when it's, erm, not plugged
in to anything, including the mains. And never mind the BBC Micros ;-)
)

<grin> I can see Stallman in some ashram in the Himalayan foothills,
can't you? ;-)

Easily :))

And what about the `open source' and `free software' crowds.? Nah, it
might get to be a problem, but it won't take over everything and I think
it'll turn out to be a blip. After all, when the race has set up shop
off planet? ...

While Intel and AMD are actively involved, it will be hard to find new
hardware that is free of the intrusion.

The treacherous computing module is an add-on circuit, isn't it? - no
reason not to design a logic board that doesn't use it, surely?

[1] I remember being very happy when we got the 16K RAM pack for the
ZX81. And now I've got a computer with 2.5GB RAM and 550GB nominal HD
space. Eek! I keep asking `Why'? The answer, of course, is that I
know damned well that in a few years time, the software will be
stretching the machine's resources. Mad, innit?

The word is 'bloat'.

Ish, ish - but what's bloat? What we've got over here in Mac-land is a
bit different to what those who suffer MS have to put up with.

snip

For example, some of the MacOS X speedups come from its manic caching -
if you've got RAM, and there's an excuse to cache data in it, the OS
will do so. This speeds things up - but you do find yourself using
stupid amounts of RAM for no apparent reason.

What is RAM for if not to use it?

Indeed - but it's still faintly alarming to see the indicator creep up
until most of your 2.5GB is in use...

The Linux newsgroups often get posts
from Windows users complaining that "there isn't any free RAM after I've
started the system so how can I run anything? This is a stupid bloated
operating system ...".

Er? Umm. No, what you do is fire up applications and see how things
work. If VM and caching don't work together to sort things out to your
best advantage, *THEN* you whinge like hell. As you know. Idiots.

I mean, why worry about how much RAM the indicators *claim* is in use
unless you've got mad disc thrashing and great sluggishness going on?

(and I really must repartition my boot disc - I made a mistake some
years ago, and now I've got some big discs I can do a full backup on to,
so... And I keep saying I'd like a little SCSI disc in there just as a
swap disc just to make it fly)

Windows is stupid at handling RAM the way it does.

Quite. Is it sensible at doing *anything* - aside from making money for
MS?

snip

Enough!

Rowland.

It was fun :))

<grin> Oh good.

Rowland.


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