Phoronix: Linus Issues Independence Day 2.6.31-rc2 Kernel
For those of you not out celebrating the Independence Day / 4th of July in America, there is a new release candidate for the Linux 2.6.31 kernel that is now ready for testing. In this second release candidate there is a new DRM pull bringing various fixes and improvements, including Intel DisplayPort support for hardware with such new connectors. Beyond updates to the kernel side of the Linux graphics stack, Linux 2.6.31-rc2 brings performance counters to new architectures, large architecture updates for MIPS and PowerPC, a large intel-iommu merge, and various other changes...
http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=NzM2Ng
In English, people usually say/write "the Americas" when a short term is needed to talk about North and South America together, while "America" is almost always referring to the USA. If there is some kind of ambiguity or arrogance in this, it's inherent in the name of the country. As much as I like to join in the fun of critiquing Michael's English, I have to say that this has been standard usage for a long time and is not likely to change anytime soon.
america might also refer to the "new world".
Does it get annoying to anyone else non-american to see most tech sites mention this (4. of july, some kind of big day back there)? Sites with global audience should ignore things like this IMO.
It doesn't really annoy me, but there can you see the US american arrogance. They still think they're the center of the world.
And from the reaction of a few people here, I see the southern american countries doesnt like that either. American IS NOT USA. America is a continent: North and South America. And there exists countries like Brasilia, Chile, Mexico .. and yes even Canada und Peru(and more...of course)
Everything else is simply discriminatory.
So, if you mean USA, then say USA. Or US-America. Are these two letters so hard to say?
Sorry, but "American" has been the term used to describe residents of the USA for at least a hundred years and probably more. Living as close to the US as I do (you can see it from Toronto on a clear day) I think I would have heard if there was another term being used
There is some unfortunate ambiguity in naming - the word America was also used to refer to the entire North + South American land mass.
I think the problem here is more the lack of a global standards committee for naming things than arrogance or ill intent![]()
Last edited by bridgman; 07-05-2009 at 05:55 AM.
I have to partially disagree with you. Right, people have been using "America" for the USA - even here in Germany - they still do. But then it's simply plain wrong. The country's name is United states OF america. America is the continent. That says every worldmap.
I really think this is discriminatory towards all other countries in America, since it makes them look "less important". Which is of course not the case.
Funny, that nobody mentioned the kernel![]()