Linux-Advocacy Digest #48, Volume #32 Thu, 8 Feb 01 04:13:05 EST
Contents:
Re: I don't understand (Perry Pip)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: The Wintrolls (Ray Chason)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: The Wintrolls (Ray Chason)
Re: "It's the desktop, stupid" (Ray Chason)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: I don't understand (Perry Pip)
Re: Politics (was Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else) (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: NTFS Limitations (Was: RE: Red hat becoming illegal?) ("Ayende Rahien")
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
Re: Interesting article ("2 + 2")
Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else (Geoffrey Tobin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Perry Pip)
Subject: Re: I don't understand
Date: 8 Feb 2001 07:09:06 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 7 Feb 2001 14:14:09 GMT,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Aaron R. Kulkis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>>
>>> Edward Rosten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> > It seems to be a standard measure among winvocates and some linvocates to
>>> > quote the number of things you can do at once to prove the OS is good.
>>> > Fair enough, *but* why do some people claim thay can play several MP3s at
>>> > once?
>>>
>>> > Why in hells name would would you want to do that? The din must be awful.
>>>
>>> A DJ friend of mine carries all of her tunes on a small machine running 4
>>> 18 gig scsi drives in a 36 gig mirrored array. (FreeBSD mirroring, not
>>> hardware; its actually quite lovely). The control for her setup is a Thinkpad
>>> running Mandrake 7.1 w/kjukebox; which can handle and manage many audio
>>> streams at once without choking. This sort of thing is nessesary for DJing,
>>> because you spend alot of your time playing with redundant and overlapping
>>> streams.
>
>> Computationally, it's a REALLY low-bandwidth task.
>
>Absolutely...under linux or freebsd. Under windows however, its a different
>story.
>
>She started off using Win98 but found it to be far too unstable, then switched
>to W2K (a certian very popular radiostation in the area uses W2K for the same)
>but found it to also be too unstable for DJ tasks. Plus, all the software
>licensing was too much; since this is her prime business, she needs to be
>100% legit. When she happened apon linux w/kjukebox and an NFS setup between
>that and the drive array and discovered that the entire thing was completely
>free, she could afford to get two more 18gig SCSI drives and put every last
>tune she owns onto it. The whole setup weighs in at about 30 lbs (without
>amp, eq, speakers, etc) and fits nicely in the back of her truck. The
>computational side takes about 2 minutes to set up---plug everything in,
>plug both freebsd machine and thinkpad into an ethernet hub, and away she
>goes.
>
It's a driver problem, not the fault of Microsoft. Remember, Windows
audio drivers are written by morons like Pete Goodwin:-)
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:22:18 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
...
> However...typical market forces would force even teachers
> to learn the Constitution.
What's the connection between a free market and inflexible
legislation again?
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:23:39 +1100
Glitch wrote:
...
> and lie detector tests---this past administration would have burnt the
> machines up after lying so much.
If you instituted honesty in government, you'd have to introduce
direct government by the people - and even then i wonder how
many voters would pass the honesty test?
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Ray Chason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: The Wintrolls
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 07:20:51 -0000
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>No sane person would use Linux on a home desktop system as their
>primary operating system.
I don't suffer from insanity. I'm enjoying every minute of it.
--
--------------===============<[ Ray Chason ]>===============--------------
PGP public key at http://www.smart.net/~rchason/pubkey.asc
Delenda est Windoze
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:26:14 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
...
> DEMONCROOK ...
Abuse makes for a very unconvincing argument.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:28:05 +1100
Craig Kelley wrote:
>
> We just need better election equipment. Jeb Bush's primary goal right
> now is to upgrade all the counties in Florida, so he can wipe the egg
> off his face. Even in remote states like Idaho, we're re-vamping the
> entire system before the next congressional election.
One would hope so, because the egg's not on Jeb Bush's face,
it's on the United States's.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:29:52 +1100
"Brian V. Smith" wrote:
...
> To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the
> glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big
> as it needs to be.
Now, that's insightful.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:31:19 +1100
Grant Edwards wrote:
>
> Now, if somebody would compare Bill Gates to Hitler, we can officially
> declare this thread deceased.
OK, Bill Gates is to Adolf Hitler, as the Staten Island Ferry
is to the Titanic.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Ray Chason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: The Wintrolls
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 07:28:26 -0000
"Edward Rosten" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>In article <dDEf6.29252$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Pete Goodwin"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> But I don't hate Linux!
>
>Sometimes you seem to, other times you don't.
Pete, I think, is offering reasonable criticism (unlike flatfoot, who's
just a Winshill). Linux can't improve if we all pretend it's God's
gift to computing.
--
--------------===============<[ Ray Chason ]>===============--------------
PGP public key at http://www.smart.net/~rchason/pubkey.asc
Delenda est Windoze
------------------------------
From: Ray Chason <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: "It's the desktop, stupid"
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 07:37:09 -0000
"Erik Funkenbusch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Sure, but you'll be fighting over which is better ala emacs/vi for a decade
>before you standardize it.
I use vim. Others can use emacs, and it's all the same to me. Vi and
emacs use the same file format. If OTOH someone tried to render my use
of vim impractical, just so s/h/it could sell me a copy of emacs, then
that would be something to complain about.
--
--------------===============<[ Ray Chason ]>===============--------------
PGP public key at http://www.smart.net/~rchason/pubkey.asc
Delenda est Windoze
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:41:35 +1100
Steve Mading wrote:
>
> Chosing to deliberately disobey a grammer rule is not always a
"Choosing", "grammar". ;)
> case of laziness or ignorance. I chose to not use the standard
> American English method of quotation because it is illogical.
>
> Consider this sentence:
> Standard way: "I went home," Bob said.
> More Logical way #1: "I went home", Bob said
> More Logical way #2: "I went home" Bob said
> More Logical way #3: "I went home." Bob said
>
> The standard way is illogical because the comma is there as an
> artifact of the process of putting the quotation into the sentence,
> and NOT a part of what Bob actually said - therefore it makes no
> sense to put it inside the quotation marks. If it's there at
> all, it belongs outside what was actually quoted of Bob (logical
> way #1). It could also be argued that it is redundant since the
> quote marks already tell you where the quote ends and the pause
> should go, and therefore there is no need for the comma (logical
> way #2). It could also be argued that since what Bob said was
> a complete sentence unto itself, that it needs a period (logical
> way #3). But the standard way is completely arbitrary nonsense.
>
> I see no problem with deliberately seeking to change the grammar
> rules when they make no sense.
That's true, and fortunately as an Australian i can pick and choose
between American and British rules, according to which is rational.
Regarding commas: their purpose is to indicate a pause. So, if the
writer wants the reader to pause between the quote and "Bob", s/he
will place a comma there.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:47:32 +1100
Steve Mading wrote:
>
> There's a few ...
There _are_ a few. :)
> integers are 32-bit numbers in Java.
The larger problem is the plural. The term is "integer"
without the "s". It would be better if English used a
separable particle to indicate plurals. Curiously,
(as far as i'm aware) Chinese has exactly one word
with a plural form: "ren" (person) has the plural
"ren min" (people), and here "min" functions as
a separate plural particle.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:55:31 +1100
Steve Mading wrote:
>
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy Brian V. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> : Perhaps, but we were talking about the apostrophes in this case. Mr (.) likes
> : to leave them out altogether so he says "ill" instead of "I'll" and "elses" instead
> : of "else's", which is hard to read and is worse than just disobeying a grammar
>rule.
>
> : You know, like when someone says "noone" instead of "no one". It is hard to see
> : "noone" and pronounce it with two syllables.
>
> Yes, but "elses" is pronounced the same as "else's", and the only reason
> "Ill" is confusing is because there is another word in English with
> the spelling "ill". Without that other word there, "eyell" would be
> just as valid a pronounciation for "Ill" as "ihll" is.
The apostrophe indication of elision is convenient.
> "noone" is a special case where you stick two vowels together so they
> look like they combine to make a single sound. Words like "cant"
> "dont" have that problem.
"Cant" has the problem that it's also a word meaning "nonsensical
speech",
and in the English speaking community outside the US it's pronounced
differently.
Since "can't" is not ambiguous, i prefer it.
> The only purpose grammar has that really matters is to remove ambiguity.
A point worth consideration in the case of the apostrophe.
> For example, it's important to know the difference between
> "Kill Steve!" and "Kill, Steve!". But often times the grammar doesn't
> remove ambiguity at all, and in that case I don't care.
Another example was used by a poster recently:
In punctuating "Woman without her man is nothing",
a man wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing.",
whereas a woman wrote: "Woman! Without her, man is nothing.".
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 18:57:16 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
>
> Most of the tamper-friendly voting systems are in Demoncrook-run counties.
> Why is that?
Because George W didn't want to count the ones in Re-publican counties.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:00:08 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
...
> You remember all the chads that kept getting swept up off the floor
> in Florida...NEVER allowed to accumulate, lest it become completely
> f#$*ing obvious what was being done.
Interesting point, but does every fanatical supporter of George "Dubya"
(*)
display a foul tongue in public, or is that a characteristic only of the
most morally upright Republican voters?
(*) Hey! Isn't that a Russian name?
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:04:05 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
...
> [By the way, I'm a Libertarian, not a Republican]
I always wondered what the difference is. Now i know:
a Republican has a sweet tongue in public.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Perry Pip)
Subject: Re: I don't understand
Date: 8 Feb 2001 08:04:49 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Thu, 08 Feb 2001 02:17:56 GMT,
Osugi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
> Matthew Gardiner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Hypothetically, it is meant to show the superior multi-threadedness of
>> each OS. Mp3 decode/encode require a bit of cpu grunt, hence, on a
>> properly threaded OS, this should be a piece of piddle. Personally, I
>> don't use that as a bench mark, because it is so unreliable and can be
>> influenced by outside factors, such as processor speed and memory. I
>> prefer the real world experience. For example, in my case..I run Applix
>> Office, Mozilla 0.7 and Mp3 at the same time without and notice-able
>> performance loss (mind you I have a PeeCee w/ Freebsd 4.1, 256MB RAM,
>> 550 PIII Coppermine).
>>
>> Matthew Gardiner
>
>
>Since we are all swapping stories,
>
>I once burned a cd while listening to mp3s and running setiathome.
>Fortunately for the cd, I was burning as root. But even so, the mp3s
>sounded fine and the cd came out ok. I doubt that that would have been
>the case under Windows98 or WinME.
It's nice to be able to play quake3 or UT whilst burning a CD. If I do
it with the game installed on a disk that shares an IDE channel with
the CD Writer, the scene load times are rather slow, understably. But
with the game installed on any other disk, there's no noticable
slowdown.
Perry
>(at the time, it was a k6-2 450 with 128 meg running kde)
>
>To answer the original question, I personally have no need or desire to
>play more than mp3 at a time.
>
>--
>Osugi Sakae
>
>I will not be filed, numbered, briefed or debriefed.
>I am not a number, I am a free man. -The Prisoner
>
>
>Sent via Deja.com
>http://www.deja.com/
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Politics (was Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else)
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:10:50 +1100
Walt, Southern, California, USA wrote:
>
> All you have to do is read and you'll see that historically, the most
> crooked elections have happened in Democratic strongholds: Tamany Hall
> (New York City), Chicago under Richard Daley Sr., and the county of Los
> Angeles (in recent years) in California.
No, Democrats (and Richard Nixon) are stupid enough to get caught
committing felonies.
Smart politicians, like Ronald ("i forget") Reagan, and Joh Bjelke
("i forget") Petersen, can violate constitutions, big time, and
get away with it.
Now i'll be hated by both parties, but i have low regard for their
opinions.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:13:37 +1100
"Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
...
> The whole Constitution is founded upon the principle
> that government can't be trusted....least of all those individuals in
> government who LIKE being a part of it.
Now i'm really frightened of Ronald ("happy, happy") Reagan.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:24:27 +1100
Johan Kullstam wrote:
>
> "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > Steve Ackman wrote:
> > >
> > > Jefferson was a Deist, yet was branded an Atheist by his
> > > Christian detractors. Deism is a far cry from Christianity.
> >
> > Deism is a belief in the existance of God.
> > Atheism is a belief in the non-existance of God.
> >
> > Obviously, Jefferson's detractors were lying.
>
> or they could have simply been wrong.
On further consideration, politicians are neither wrong
nor do they lie, instead they are wishful thinkers.
Accusing people of atheism and/or child abuse and/or cannibalism
is in politics and philosophy a way of saying "i don't like you
because you're treading on my turf".
Public officials accused Socrates atheism and child abuse.
The Romans (*) accused Christians of atheism and cannibalism.
(*) Yes, the same Romans who created the methods of torture
which the Inquisition copied.
The pot always calls the shiny new kettle black, until the kettle
becomes as grubby as the pot, and then they find a mutually
advantageous accommodation.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: "Ayende Rahien" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
alt.destroy.microsoft,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: NTFS Limitations (Was: RE: Red hat becoming illegal?)
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 21:42:29 +0200
"Nick Condon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ayende Rahien) wrote in
> >I said it's a rumor, because I can't confirm it.
> >AFAIK, it should be the price for the whole product, not just the
> >upgrade. Regardless, you can do an upgrade on a clean system, you just
> >need a prior version of windows' cd to show the installation program.
>
> Is that just Whistler, or the can the Win98 upgrade be made to do this
too?
AFAIK, all versions of windows can do this.
Possibly Office, as well.
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:25:54 +1100
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Also while the herd mentality is certainly there, I think the
> nature of software interfaces and how they tend to interfere
> with free choice is far more critical. It's not enough to merely
> have the "biggest fraternity", you also need a way to trap people
> in once they've made a bad initial decision.
Whom are you quoting, Mr Knight?
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:35:30 +1100
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> No, atheism is lack of belief.
Scan the word. Atheism means "no God ism" (whatever "ism" is).
Lack of belief would have a word of its own that i might be able
to cite if i knew the Greek for "belief".
My Dad is an agnostic, because, as he explains, he doesn't know.
Agnostic = "having no knowledge".
> If you null hypothesis is that
> deities and the supernatural don't exist, then no active
> 'belief' is not necessary.
I think you didn't mean that second "not". In that case, you still
haven't found evidence for your peculiar misinterpretation of the word
"atheism".
> Agnosticism is more of a position that the issue is unsolved
> or unsolvable.
By my Dad, it is unsolved, because he "has no knowledge".
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:51:35 +1100
Ian Davey wrote:
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Aaron R. Kulkis" wrote:
>
> >A theism *IS* a belief....specifically a belief in the null postulate.
>
> This seems more the typical Christian expression of Atheism, trying to
> position it as a belief system.
> It means "without theism"
You can choose to read it that way, but the grammatically correct
parsing is: (a(the))ism). A system of thought (ism) in which the
central hypothesis is an absence of God.
> in the same way that
> amoral means "without morality".
That's unambiguous because it has only two elements,
"a" and "moral".
> So you can argue semantics, and some may try
> and turn Atheism into a belief system,
It is. A test is this: ask an Atheist if they have room in their
philosophy for any possibility except the absence of God.
> especially Christians because they
> like to paint it that way. It's not something you practice or follow though,
> you don't actually need to do or believe anything to be an Atheist.
Except for that one thing: denial of God.
> As far as Atheists are concerned, god doesn't exist any more than Santa Claus
But Santa Claus does exist, as the historic Saint Nicholas, who really
did
give gifts to children. Saint Nicholas is less saccharine than the
commercial
imitator, quite as real as Julius Caesar, and possibly more beneficial
even
than Linux.
Nowadays parents who can afford it fulfil Saint Nicholas's role for
their
children, and charities exist to do so for the poor.
> or the Easter Bunny.
The Easter Bunny is as real as your team's mascot, and the crowds seem
to treat that as real, in the sense that it's intended to be taken.
> You don't have to actively not believe in their existence, they merely
> exist as nice stories for people who feel they need them (IMHO).
Stories are good, when they're good. For good reason, i feel a need
for the stories of Socrates, and Jefferson, and Linus Torvalds.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 19:53:09 +1100
Ian Davey wrote:
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >Which *IS* a belief in itself.
>
> Not true. I read lots of novels and enjoy them, but don't believe any of the
> content as it's just fiction. There's no belief system wrapped up in it. ...
Semantic shift, Ian: you're attempting to replace "belief" by "belief
system".
"System" wasn't the point in contention.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 20:03:04 +1100
Ian Davey wrote:
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Aaron R. Kulkis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>wrote:
> >
> >You have just expressed a belief.
> >
> >It might be true, or not...either way, it IS a belief.
>
> You've still not managed to convince me.
So, you believe now that your belief is _probably_ not a belief.
> But perhaps it's just a matter of semantics,
Everything in civil discourse is a matter of semantics.
Without meaning, what are words for, except Orwellian abuse?
> There is a valid proof that God doesn't exist,
No there isn't. :)
> but I can't remember who coined it now:
> "the existance of God disproves the existance of God, therefore God
> does not exist".
That's an invalid argument, because its premise is false.
If you want to find a logical foundation for your atheism
you will have to do much better than to commence by giving
credit to arrant falsehoods.
> Seeing as you're mathematically/scientifically minded, you
> might be able to figure out the logic of that statement.
The one that's been shot down in flames?
The argument by one who doesn't believe which purportedly
proves that his belief (or lack of a belief (*)) is true.
(*) How does that work? Claiming to prove that a statement
is true while still lacking a belief in it. That's irrational.
> Not Christian are you?
I am. Therefore i am.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 20:07:15 +1100
Steve Mading wrote:
>
> "Failure to come to a decision is a decision" is self
> contradictory. It fits the pattern: X == not(X).
I see you're not a mathematician of a formal school.
The statement is not self contradictory, it's a meta-statement,
a statement about a body of statements that does not include
itself.
The second use of the word "decision" is a term in the meta-theory
describing the smaller set of decisions that someone failed to
make.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
From: "2 + 2" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
alt.destroy.microsoft,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Interesting article
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 04:04:48 -0500
The article compares OS/2 with the Win9x/Me code base in terms of
innovation.
Microsoft's real innovation with its OS products was with Windows NT/2000.
And it competes with Linux and Unix.
And OS/2 is no match for Linux in particular.
There is no dearth of competition on the server.
The competition that is needed is on the desktop.
And it would be great if Linux would get off the CORBA kludge and develop
its own component middleware.
CORBA was a result of committee think, anti-Microsoft kludge done in by the
server software powers who were afraid that a real component middleware
system would cannabalize their income structure.
OMG was not a real open source movement like that which produced Linux. It
was dominated by the big software powers.
I would not be surprised to see a real open source component middleware
platform developed for Linux. It would be great for the consumer.
2 + 2
Ayende Rahien wrote in message <95j4tt$i1j$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>http://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/endofos2.html
>
>
------------------------------
From: Geoffrey Tobin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: MS to Enforce Registration - or Else
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 20:08:51 +1100
Steve Mading wrote:
>
> Implicit metaphor has no place in a logical discussion.
On the contrary, implicit metaphor is _required_ in discussion.
That's the first (*) rule of meta-theory.
(*) First in the order in which i'm listing a subset of the rules.
--
Best wishes!
Geoffrey Tobin
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.ee.latrobe.edu.au/~gt/gt.html
------------------------------
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