Yeah, then self driving cars will become mandatory Yep! That'll be the day! When the Nanny State won't even let you drive anymore! The signs are there, with new manual transmission vehicles becoming increasingly hard to find. As if people these days are too sorry (or stupid)  to work their left foot?. Lazy, Lazier, and LAZIER.

C'mon! Seems like people (cough: Americans :cough) just want to sit in their seat and listen to the radio, talk on their cell phones, look out the window, and sleep!? I'd admit that some of that, such as increased sight seeing ability, makes some sense, but--Sheesh! once you're at highway speeds, you don't even change gears most of the time anyway; you're just holding the wheel and holding the pedal (not even that if you have cruise cntrl.)

I guess the self-driving concept makes some sense on the super slab (safety/insurance cost savings where driving is most boring anyway), but putting it everywhere would be ridiculous.

Even then, don't most crashes occur in curves and intersections, like the book says , or is that just for motorcycles?

Seems sometimes like society is constantly trying to take burdens away from us when those very burdens make up one's life. One of these days, there won't be much left to do. There will be something there to do it for you... to live your life for you. Who wants that?

I guess one will always find something to do in life, but you get what I'm saying? What is there to motorcycling if the bike drove itself? Just the ride?

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/should-self-driving-car-be-programmed-ki...


Or this. "Honest officer, it wasn't my fault. This is a Microsoft Windows car - and you know how vulnerable these models are to viruses."

"Sorry sir. Shulda bought a Linuxmobile. Turn around and place your hands behind your back. You have the right to remain silent ..."

If I'm not driving then I'm walking. For me, it's not a "point A to point B" thing. Driving is an exprience. I enjoy it. That's one of the reasons why I ride.

oldNslow wrote on 12/22/15 at 17:52:08:




Don't worry about it -- MS isn't even on this radar screen at this point.  It is all Linuxmobiles.

Who would want a car that suddenly goes blue screen on you?   Plus Ford has already fired MS as an "in dash" software provider since MS cost them first and second place in JD Powers ranking on a couple of models for having horrible awkward in-dash software.

Look to see Android based software take over the car dash during the next couple of years, especially as the relationship between Google and Ford (and others, to be announced soon) begins to ripen.

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 12/23/15 at 05:21:45:


Pffffffft!!

Ever heard of a kernel panic? It's the Linux/Unix/Mac version of Window's BSOD. And, yes, I've had Linux crash on me before, especially when the thing fails to wake properly from sleep.

I rarely even turn the radio on, and then it's in the car, an automatic.
The pickup? I probably haven't had the radio on for an hour,total, in the years I've had it. The CB, yeah, but I enjoy the experience of driving, listening to the the engine, changing gears, watching what is going on around me. Do interstate miles get boring? Yeah, BUT, I would rather deal with that than be "encentivized  " to be a passenger, in a vehicle that is set to take me where I set the GPS to go. Initially, this technology will be promoted as Cool and Trendy and Responsible and insurance companies will be discounting rates for those vehicles, then the rates for You driving yourself will increase.
And, what Can be done with a vehicle that is so controlled electronically is kinda scary. Who will be able to just shut it off? What if it becomes socially irresponsible to just go for a ride? How do you just hop in the car and go riding aimlessly, looking around neighborhoods for Christmas lights? How do YOU decide,
Hey, I've never been down that street before, I think I wanna check out that neighborhood....
What happens to
Cruising the drag?
I see it as a bad thing in the long run. I see some benefits, but they are far outweighed by the loss of the feeling of freedom to just GO.

I CAN see an entrepreneur buying several and dispatching them as taxis. Imagine a wheelchair bound person, home alone, the others are at work,, make a call, a small van pulls up, roll out, onto the lift, smile at the camera, tell it where you need to go, and off to the store or doctor, whatever,, swipe the card, trip is paid for. Pay for holding it, or, call for a ride home.
Have a few vehicles to carry eight or ten, haul people home who have been out drinking. That's not gonna last forever, because Those people will be buying one. Imagine, falling in the back seat, pushing the
Take me home
button, and waking up in the driveway at nine A.M..
Beats waking up in a holding cell...or, the ER.

You know, you guys could try to speak about current Linux installations instead of recounting things from over a year ago.

And yes, no operating system is perfect (although Chrome OS on a Chromebook comes as close as anything has so far).

But ChromeOS is not perfect either, as it too has people as users who do strange things, and then they do powerwashes to fix what they had just fouled up -- but (credit where credit is due) a powerwash so far is flaw free and it takes just 10 minutes to do and then Google puts back all your active settings and past work from off of your Google Drive account so in 15 minutes you can totally "redo" your machine with practically no effort on your part.

Schools powerwash classroom machines all the time for little or no reason, as they can rack the machine afterwards as "updated totally and known to be good".