Posts by LawAbidingCitizen

Linus Torvalds drops Intel and adopts 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper on personal PC

Re: New PC

Still using an i7-4790, but am waiting for my 3900x, which should arrive in about 2 weeks.. Can't wait!!

PC shipments just rose, thanks to Windows 10

It makes zero difference anyway. All your data is belong to NSA.

Kubuntu 18.04 - FOR THE WIN!

I own three ThinkPads - a T450s, a T470, and a T470p. All of them are running Kubuntu 18.04. Couldn't be happier. I'm not bad-mouthing Windows 10, it's probably okay, but I do know it shamefully sucks up as much data as possible and sends that data to Microsoft servers - all in the name of make "Cortana" smarter (so Cortana can "...really get the know you!...").

When I bought my T470, I had to (to my horror) had to install Windows 10 because I needed to update the "Intel chipset" firmware. This was painful. Extremely painful. The installation too over 5 hours (from a USB stick) before the T470 could actually be used. Once the firmware was upgraded, I installed Kubuntu 18.04 - that took a total of 17 minutes.

Anyway, each to their own. I'm sure Windows 10 has many positive points, but it's not for me. I can do everything I need to do on Linux (some CUDA coding, games development using UE4, and a ton of Java coding).

I'm also still a sucker for wobbly windows :) Check out Andy Turfer's videos on YouTube - they're one of the reasons why I switched to Linux full-time.

Unimpressed with Ubuntu 16.10? Yakkety Yak... don't talk back

Ubuntu rocks!

I love using Ubuntu. I'm currently using 16.10 on my desktop, and really enjoy it. The only thing I've come across that I don't really like is the new "progress balloon" the appears when you copy files - it's appears on the Nautilus instance you're copying from, and the Nautilus instance you're copying to. Other than that, I'm really enjoying it so far.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS arrives today complete with forbidden ZFS

How to make Ubuntu look good

Do a Google search for "How to make Ubuntu 15.10 look good" - a YouTube video uploaded by Andy Turfer. I love it! Really hope that this works with Ubuntu 16.04.

I think a lot of the flack that's directed towards Ubuntu (Canonical) is largely undeserved - it's like people just want to complain about something. Personally, I'm extremely grateful for what Canonical have done for the Linux community (and the Linux landscape in general).

I've been exclusively using Ubuntu 15.10 since the stable release, and am looking forward to 16.04.

We put Windows 10 on a small fondleslab: STILL not ready, 3 days to go

Re: From one mistake to another...

I don't want to choose Windows, but I don't really have a choice. Very few OEMs will sell a laptop that doesn't come with Windows pre-installed. I've had to settle for either a System76 laptop (with a US keyboard), or just bite the bullet and pay for an operating system I never use.

I'm anti-Microsoft, but...

As a huge proponent of Open Source, I'm anti-Microsoft (although I'm not militant about it, I usually keep my views to myself). Having said that, the new Windows 10 looks pretty good. I'm certainly not going to move from Linux to Windows, but I can see how it would appeal to a large number of users.

Ukraine PM: Hacktivists? C'mon! Russian spies attacked Gov.DE

Yeah, whatever

Anyone with half a brain can't take Yatsenyuk (Nuland's "man") seriously. Same applies to the other extremist egg-heads currently running Ukraine.

Unchanging Unicorn: Don't be disappointed with Ubuntu 14.10, be happy

Re: 14.04

Try this in /etc/modprobe.d/also.conf (place it right down the bottom, after everything else):

options snd-hda-intel vid=8086 pid=8ca0 snoop=0

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS: Great changes, but sssh don't mention the...

So much hate for Unity Search?

I can't believe the emphasis people are putting on the search functionality. Yeah, okay, we all get it, some folks miss the hierarchical organizations of programs (where you have to remember which category an application is in and then navigate to it - hopefully no more than 2 layers deep).

Just to make it clear, you don't have to "...search for everything..."!! When you install something from the software repo, you'll see the icon float over to the Unity Launcher (OSX style!). From there, you can right-click it to keep it on the launcher. So all the applications you use most of the time are very easily accessible (in my humble opinion, it's much easier than diving into a hierarchical organization of programs/icons). I have all my favorite apps on the Unity Launcher (terminal, momentics IDE, Eclipse, MySQL Workbench, VirtualBox etc etc etc). There's the odd application I rarely use which I do occasionally search for, like CCSM (Compiz Config Settings Manager), but it's only once in a blue moon I have to perform such a search.

I think most of your folks crying because you claim you have to "...search for everything..." don't really use Ubuntu 14.04, you just want to vent your anger and frustrations.

Haters gonna keep on hatin'.

Microsoft leads charge against Google's Android in EU antitrust complaint

Microsoft's Operating System Tie-in

Here's a simple question:

Why is it when someone wants to buy a laptop from Dell or HP or any of the other major OEMs, they are forced to also buy a Windows licence?

Is this not the same issue? Consumers don't really have a choice of operating system:

1. Buy a laptop pre-installed with Windows (why???), download and install Linux yourself.

2. Buy a MacBook (very expensive).

3. Buy an "OS free" laptop (very rare - far and few between, good luck finding the specs you need/want).

DIe, Microsoft, die! The sooner you fade into irrelevance, the better off the IT industry will be, and the sooner innovation will start thriving. (Die software patents too!!!).

/rant

Rampaging gnu crashes Microsoft Store, hands out literature

MS have really scewed up

I think MS have dropped the ball with Windows 8. It's a disjointed attempt to try and merge traditional desktop (mouse/keyboard) with the new touch paradigm. Personally, I think it's a complete failure (I see its virtues on touch devices, but even then...). The way it switches from the standard desktop back to the crazy tiled interface is confusing, unintuitive and a jarring experience.

I'm a Linux user. I love Linux. I have freedom of choice, and I choose Linux. I resent the fact that every single time I buy a new laptop I have to pay for a Microsoft Windows license. I have just ordered a Chronos 7 (700C7C). The first think I will be doing when I get it is installing Linux. Yet, a portion of what I paid for the unit is for a Windows license. In most countries, this is an illegal business practice (bundling to maintain a monopoly is legally considered anti-competitive in most countries). But it doesn't stop there - Microsoft are attacking on all fronts, and EUFI is another example of such an attack - slowly eroding the freedom to install an alternative OS for folks like myself.

Reading the comments above, I kind of feel like that I'm criminal for using/liking Linux and the freedom to choose. I cannot believe the number of people who defend Microsoft as though it was their religion being attacked. I'm stunned at the number of people who are subjugated by Microsoft and lovin' it (although I fully understand how it got to this point).

I can understand why Steven Sinofsky "left" Microsoft after the Windows 8 release. The first time I witnessed Windows 8 I thought that someone was parodying the real Windows 8. The fact people are taking Windows 8 on a non-touchscreen desktop/laptop makes me feel like I've crossed over to some twisted and warped alternative reality.

Vote Lib Dem, doom humanity to extinction

What a fantastic enlightening article!

The author's logic is undeniable... NOT!

Has The Register really stooped to such levels?

This is a pet hate of mine, the use of the adjective "independent" when describing Britain's nuclear deterrent. Could someone please justify exactly why it is "independent" when:

1. British Trident missiles are leased from the US.

2. There is a Trident factory in Berkshire that is two-thirds own by Lockheed Martin and Jacobs Engineering (American companies).

3. The firing and guidance systems are designed and built in the US (and cannot be used without the help and cooperation of the US).

4. In 2003 Geoff Hoon, the then defence secretary, restructured the UK's defence forces to make them "inter-operate" with the US. It is impossible for the UK to launch a missile without US approval.

There is nothing "independent" about the British nuclear arsenal. It is nothing more than an extension of America's colossal nuclear arsenal, only it's paid for by the British tax-payer. Also, simply having it makes us a target, and last time I checked we don't have ABMs.

There are cheaper alternatives that a just as effective (if not more so). We don't need the "latest and greatest", and we can always re-evaluate the situation when we are in a (financial) position to do so. Right now, I personally think it's crazy committing £100 billion (which will end up being much, much more).

Use logic for once instead of listening to the fear mongering generated by those who have a vested interest in deals worth hundred of billions of pounds (British tax-payer pounds that is).

I agree with Nick.

A user's timetable to the Digital Economy Act

Litigation not mentioned in the timetable

You forgot to mention litigation on the timetable. Effective immediately, the BPI will resume it's former practise of volume (bulk) litigation:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i33e34f97cdbeee3e393bbf3300f0bb5c

The BPI are claiming that the government have forced them down this road by not acting sooner to curb piracy.

What does this mean? It means that when the firm hired to gather "evidence" from a P2P swarm (that is, IP addresses and torrent transfer logs), the law firm will be handed the IP addresses, they will seek a court order to obtain the identification of the broadband connection owner and will subsequently send the connection owner a letter along the lines of:

"You have been infringing the copyright owned by our client. Pay us £800 (or so) or we will take you to court where you will have to pay much more".

Thousands, probably millions, of parents who have teenage children will be the demographic hit hardest. The parents, many of whom will have already been hit hard by the recession, will be held responsible and will be (financially) punished for the actions of their children.

As I have already said, technical measures and litigation are not mutually exclusive. The UK is about to encountered a wave of litigation on an unprecedented scale.