Posts by Fred T 11 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jan 2015
Last time I used MS Windows VM was 3 years ago for 9 months when some game installer didn't quite work with wine. It got resolved through a Linux native app. Second last time I've used MS Windows, whether VM or bare-metal, was 11 years ago.
So I really never had dual-boot with MS Windows for the last 11 years. I do dual-boot multiple Linux, or Linux and MacOS on Macs.
It is no different from using any tools that can be used to create other artifacts, like glass, ceramics, etc.
The natural person executing the AI already has specified the objective function, specified the range parameters and hyper-parameters, and decided the process of searching for optimal hyper/parameters and possibly adjust them based on feedback/intermediate results. Just because furnace can form a glass doesn't make the furnace an inventor, nor a potter's wheel can be an inventor.
It is the executor who started the whole process, the fact that the executor didn't get involved during the process makes no difference. He/she already specified the process and initial parameters beforehand, and let the process run its course as specified, reacting to external environment as specified.
This is the reason why software (AI) or harware (robots or autonomous systems) can never be inventors. The product (software or hardware) and the process (execution with initial conditions and reaction from feedback) themselves cannot describe an act of invention. Someone external to the process and product intentionally designed the product and set the critieria, then let the process run based on those criteria, and selectively choose to use the artifact generated.
I don't know how this is different from any hardware/software platforms. Sony, Microsoft, Nitendo, Apple, Disney, etc. all participate in this lock-in.
You can't purchase a game for one platform and hope to run it on another platform. If I bought a Windows game, I can't ask to get a corresponding Mac game for free (unless the publisher gracefully gives a free license). You have to re-purchase every software to move from Windows to Mac, or from Android to iOS.
This is not just software, but also any digital media. If I bought a DVD movie, I cannot ask to get a free BluRay media or streaming of the same movie in the same resolution (unless you explicitly paid for several formats in a bundle) without re-purchasing the new formats. If I bought a CD audio, I can't ask to get a free DSD or 192k audio, or even the same resolution FLAC format over the Internet without re-paying. Just the act of downloading is illegal, even if it is exactly the same as backing up your CD you already own.
I think Epic is just being greedy. They should just focus on increasing Linux games, then complain about lock-in after that.
I stopped using Windows at version XP when I found that Windows 7 didn't do anything for me that XP couldn't do except to waste my disk space unnecessarily by 20% (by increasing OS space by 700%), and that I could do almost everything in Linux that I did in XP, including gaming.
I think the rate of Windows 10 adoption will drastically decrease after the free update deadline passes since only new PC buyers will get Windows 10, who are mostly serious gamers nowadays. Many people are happy with existing PCs, new Chromebooks, or Macs.
Use the best tool for the job. Mac for seamless user experience, Linux for IT. For gaming, use a gaming console. For phone, use iOS or Android or both. Windows is best at none of them.
Like in the old days where people tend to own multiple TVs, now they own multiple computers. Having mixture of Mac and Linux is not as rare if you count Chromebooks and Android as Linux kernel-based.
Probably zero correlation between upgrading to Windows 10 and not getting a new PC.
They didn't get a new PC because it still worked fine. They upgraded to Windows 10 because it was free. They would have kept their PC and not upgrade to Windows 10 if it wasn't free.
> Those who grew up with a ZX81, learned how to program the Z80 directly, not how to write shell scripts ..
I would be more impressed if ZX81 users could have written their own microcodes and create their own CPUs. Z80 is nothing to brag about, it's the same as any programming language (albeit low level and closer to the metal.)
Kids using high-level scripts is just as capable as those who used to write Z80 code, and they can do much more in a shorter time period, Try building a fully functional network-based webcam security system using Z80 code.
I used to write computer games in Z80 machine code (not assembly, mind you.) I feel that game engines using scripts nowadays are much more complex and more involved than Z80 machine codes.
"mostly terminal-free environment and software much easier to install"
I find Fedora repos good enough for that. Many packages also exist in opensuse build factory, so there is nothing to fiddle with tar and build. If I had to rebuild, I just use mock.
Besides, my users don't do the upgrades and install. I do it for them over the network, without leaving my chair, using ethernet wake-up and ssh.
"What *most people" want is ..a PC that .. they're used to."
Except when what they are used to is not good enough. We had so many problems with Windows back then, before XP became "good enough", that I converted all our home PCs to Linux. Now that they are "used to" Linux, they even use Linux in a Mac and not touch OS/X. These are non-techies mind you.
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