On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 10:19:22 +0800, Zak B. Elep <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: .. > Then make one, seeing you *have* the qualifications to do it. But then > again, no one's forcing you to, unless you yourself force yourself to, > or not to. Again, it really all depends on how itchy your itch is, and > how insane you are to start working on a hack...
Well that is the thing. Actually a Linux-based biometric scanner would be best since you can put Linux on a flash. BUT for my particular application, we already had the API for Windows. Trying to get it running on Linux was just a delusion on my part, since I already had some motion-detection and video-recording stuff for Linux and it would be nice to have the biometric security on the same box. So I tried to see what could be done about it -- but buying Neurologia's (closed source anyway) API could not be considered. And I'm not THAT insane... .. > I however, do not have the luxury of choosing between proprietary and > FOSS solutions, because (a) I do not have the financial backing of a > business or org that would be capable of paying the price of PSOS, and > (b) given my current needs, I do not need to risk using pirate software > when I can do my fun stuff and work on a free one. Not to mention (c) > that by choosing PSOS I lose my freedoms, but to tell you the truth, > with our current model of rights and responsibilities, this ground is > still quite shaky. Well you are right. If one can't afford PSOS for one reason or other, then there is no alternative. You just have to live without that functionality. Regarding the freedom bit -- that IS an ethical consideration. Because there's so much piracy going on. But don't think that by going with Free software you are safe. Software patents are a looming danger. .. > I just hope you change your mindset of `I code for work' to `I work for > the fun of coding'. Don't you see how negative this is? But then again, > I'm not supposed to question your qualification, right? No, coding IS fun. Coding for work is not that much fun. It's a well-known psychological effect that the fun of doing something approaches zero when you're paid to do it. So, hacking on astroinfo is coding, AND is fun. But coding for work, isn't much fun. :P -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List plug@lists.q-linux.com (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
