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When Slashdot started, it was pretty much a given that everyone had no use for Microsoft's rubbish, apart from playing games (I don't even use it for that). So, there were no real flamewars. For some reason, even Linux, BSD and Solaris users were able to get along all right at that time (for the most part).

Now, astroturfers and Bill Gates fanboys routinely whine about anti-MS bias. Get over it! You wanna read pro-MS stuff? Go to ZDNet.

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Windows 2000 is the successor to NT 4, not Windows 98. Later in 2000, Microsoft is planning to ship "Millennium," the final DOS-based Windows product.

That said, you are exactly right; as PC prices continue to plummet, Microsoft is gradually pricing themselves out of the OEM market. If the reports about Corel Linux are correct, expect to see major gains in Linux OEM deals in 6 months to a year.

Linux is already beginning to own the ultra-low end (check pricewatch.com; they had to create a separate "PC - Linux" category because of this.

Oh, one more thing, at the risk of stating the obvious: you'd have to be high to use NT for web serving after this move. And, consider this: what do you think the license for NT 6 will be like, given that Microsoft has been gradually eliminating concurrent licensing?

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AFAIK, .nsf file extensions are used by Lotus Domino. Maybe that's what they were using before, and that was a stale link?

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:-/

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Go to Preferences -> Customize Homepage, and there is a widget that lets you select what date format you want to use. Most of the options include the year.

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But it would be to risky to presume that that policy will continue indefinitely. With Linux, you need not have any such fear.

This announcement is simply the inevitable result of economic forces, and is a continuation of what we've seen for many months on the ultra-low end of the PC market (check pricewatch.com) PC makers are starting to preload Linux, in order to guarantee themselves $0 cost for OS licensing.

The big guys will probably make the install a bit more idiot-proof (KDM/KDE, predefined user account, no services enabled, StarOffice, icons on the desktop for all important stuff), but I'm pretty sure that this is where they are headed. They see the writing on the wall. You just can't make money selling low-end boxes with a $50-80 Windows license attached.

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I'd just like to point out that this is only correct if you are talking about obsolete versions of Qt. Qt 2.x, which is the current released version, is licensed under the QPL, which *is* DFSG-compliant. Check out libqt2 2.0.2-0.1, which is *not* in non-free.

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Maybe that's not what he meant; I'm just so used to reading anti-Linux flames in BSD-related threads that perhaps I'm too quick on the gun.

I don't understand why it seems that BSD users feel the need to constantly attack Linux and Linux users. They (BSDs and Linux) each have their uses.

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Linux is the "WinTel hardware world"?!?

Just off the top of my head, I can think of several platforms that Linux runs on:

• PPC
• x86
• ARM
• SPARC
• Alpha

Even http://www.kdeforum.org/ is asking for a username/password.

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What?!? Did you really just say that?

Roman Catholics, Unitarians, Pentecostals, Mormons, Coptics, Presbyterians and Anglicans are pretty homogenous?

Apart from the common belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior, I see quite a bit of heterogeny.

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Some people feel that Linux is gaining popularity not because of its Freeness, but because of hype.

Others, who have adopted Linux because of its Freeness, have apparently forgotten why proprietary software is bad. That's not to say that it should never be used; it's simply to be avoided when possible and practical.

Remember these bad things about proprietary operating systems:

• The user is at the mercy of the vendor for bug fixes
• The user is at the mercy of the vendor for continued development
• The user is at the mercy of the vendor for support
• The user cannot use the software however he/she wishes; he/she must use it within the confines of the EULA
• The user cannot share the software with others

So, the question isn't whether one should use proprietary software on a Free operarting system when it is most practical (i.e., if there were a proprietary Quicken for Linux, and one needed online banking functionality). The question is whether one should use proprietary software when a perfectly good Free alternative exists.

For me, the answer is no. I may not agree with RMS on everything, but I do think he's right about the direction we should be moving. And I'm never going to move back in the direction of proprietary software.

For a refresher: http://www.gnu.org/

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In addition to what the other posters have said here about GnuPG support in mutt, keep in mind that you can use GnuPG with just about any PGP 2.6-capable program by using the PGP wrapper, pgpgpg.

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This is patently untrue, as anyone who has actually read What is Free Software? knows. The only criticisms the FSF has of the BSD license are:

1. It doesn't keep the software free (i.e., it can be proprietarized at any time, without the consent of the authors).
2. It previously had the "obnoxious advertising clause," which lives on in software licensed under older versions of the BSD license.

Do you want to restart now?

Yes -- No

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Sendmail is still necessary for certain special cases, like when you need BITNET support, or something else out of the ordinary.

But, I think for most users, Exim is a better choice.

If you haven't played with Exim before, you really ought to check it out.

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Of course, there is no way to know for sure, but I believe that had Microsoft not monopolized the industry, there would have been a more money made, and a healthier industry.

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Uhh...*you* may not have a sense of humor, but the richest company in the US getting no takers on its offer of licenses for warez is pretty amusing to most people.

In case you don't realize this guys, 20000 geeks' livelihoods depend directly upon Microsoft. Twenty thousand employees and their families are directly influenced by software piracy.

Oh, gee, get out the hankie. Excuse me while I puke.

Did you ever stop to think about how many careers Microsoft *destroyed* with its illegal tactics?

I don't use proprietary software. I don't think people should pirate. But I really don't care what happens to Microsoft, its employees, or the mindless lemmings who have built it into the monstrosity it is.

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I suspect quite a few; most people I work with have a pretty wide range of musical tastes. People often comment on the CDs on my desk, which include Wesley Willis, Jean-Luc Ponty, Ween, The Judds, Camper van Beethoven, Anthrax, Joe Satriani, Robert Johnson and King's X.

I also like Beastie Boys, Rush...and Bluegrass. :-)

About the only music I don't like is pop, adult contemporary and hip-hop.

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Tree my ass in front of me and my cash money!

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And, it kind of makes sense, doesn't it, that with Microsoft's concern for things like DirectX on NT (Yes, I realize Quake uses OpenGL), that NT *would* make a good development platform for *games*?

Of course, many of us have to do other things with our machines (particularly servers) than gaming (bummer, eh?). In those cases, there are few areas where NT really excels, IMHO.

It does have a pretty decent interface (though not as good as OS/2's), but the inconsistency of its behavior makes it unsuitable for most server tasks, IMO. The most frustrating thing with NT is how installing one program seems to incur a 20% chance of breaking something, somewhere in the system. Example: a guy who installed SQL Server, and it broke his InterDev menus. Just weird stuff like that.

And, there is one thing that I know from having to maintain NT machines for the past 3 years: Blue Screens Happen. Not on every machine, but consistently on some. And situations like the horrific SP2 release make it hazardous to even install fixes.

I hope id continues to use NT, as long as it really is the best solution for them. But, I hope they keep looking at Linux, because it will surpass NT in even these areas in a few years.

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Maybe I'm spoiled, because I have a Matrox Millennium G200, but XFree86 works great!

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If time is real, when did time start?

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For some reason, many people seem to miss this point; it is crucial to understanding the argument against public art funding (and public campaign financing).

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This 'contest' was obviously a sham. It may not have been a conspiracy, but there certainly was a shameful display of cluelessness involved here. Why wasn't the NT machine set up without the recommended Service Packs?

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OK...the EJP/JSP stuff I can see, but ASP/COM for high-end stuff? I just can't imagine it, seeing what I've seen about the stability of ASP/IIS/NT. I know of a company that just set up a *brand new* NT/SQL Server machine, which will act as a DB server to their NT/IIS server. You can already blue screen the thing, just by running packages in the Enterprise Manager. :-)

I suppose if you want to run a ring of web servers...but you're still going to run into weirdness, I'd bet. Man, that's like intentionally running your head full speed into a brick wall.

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Minivend is licensed under the GPL.

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I have. It works. Has worked for some time with RedHat, at least.

I think the BEST thing about Windows 98 is the fact Microsoft _has_ heard the complaints about Windows 95 installation and has done something about it. On most modern computers, I can have Windows 98 installed and running in about 45 minutes. If you're not used to UNIX, installing Linux will take at least twice as long.

The only difficult steps in installing RedHat Linux (other distributions can vary in difficulty) are: partitioning the disk (still difficult with Windows) and selecting the video adapter (can also be a pain in Windows if your adapter is not auto-detected, which seems to be about half the time). If you do know your video adapter, RedHat will ask you if you want to automatically start X. If you do, it will set up xdm to run at startup, so you never even see a command prompt.

My last Linux install took about 45 min...but that was because I was doing an remote FTP install from ftp.varesearch.com...try THAT with Windows. :-D

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Unlike Microsoft, Sun actually delivers some high-quality products.

Just this morning, some bozo's scripts drove the load on an UltraSPARC-based web server up to ~38. No problem...I went in and killed his processes. The machine was still responsive, even under that kind of a load.

Solaris is still more scalable than Linux (although I prefer Linux for most uses these days).

Java is an excellent language, even if the runtime implementation is subpar.

Sun makes a lot of good stuff. Yes, we have to make sure we don't get cornered by them or any other vendor, but to compare them with Microsoft is unfair, IMO.

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Are you sure? :-)

it is slow compared to MS Office. On Linux it takes about a minute to load

I just started it. It took 8 seconds, on a Celeron 300(450). That's not really fast, but it's not that bad.

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That said, I am scratching my head over the way Sun has licensed this.

What is the real goal here? I presume, like many others, that the goal is to "cut off Microsoft's air supply," by going after their big cash cow, Office.

If that is true, the current license (as well as the SCSL, under which the source, when released, will be licensed) doesn't accomplish the goal, due to its limitations on redistribtion.

Why not, at the very least, allow unlimited redistribution of binaries? That would get StarOffice into more hands, which gets Sun closer to the goal of damaging Microsoft's revenue stream.

Presumably, Sun isn't going to make a lot of cash selling StarOffice, since they are giving it away. So, why not let others distribute? I really don't understand the reasoning behind that.

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Personally, yes, I would, but then again...I'm not the kind of person likely to be setting up an NT mail server.

I see your point; I guess I'm just kind of wondering aloud why someone would want to go half-way like that. I mean, if you're an all-Microsoft house, I would think you'd be running Exchange, so you can use those nifty proprietary Exchange features.

Otherwise, I would think someone who is already thinking down the lines of not tying themselves exclusivly to Microsoft solutions, if they wanted to use sendmail, would just set themselves up a UNIXy box of some sort.

But, you're right...if they do set up sendmail on their NT box, that's still a Good Thing(tm), because it means that normal mail programs (including those that run on non-Microsoft operating systems) can be used on the clients.

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It's not really odd; they've been advertising their closed-source Sendmail Pro thing for some time here on Slashdot.

Of course, the only reason anyone would need Sendmail Pro is because of the sheer user hostility of sendmail.cf and friends. Keep that bat book handy.

I've switched all my machines over to Exim. Nice configuration files, and licensed under the GPL.

I think the real question this article raises is...if you're setting up a mail server, and you've chosen sendmail as your MTA, why in the heck would you want to run it on NT?

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Who is number one?

You are number six.

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Earlier this year, in Alberta.

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6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License.

No language about "internal use." In fact, "internal" does not appear anywhere in the GPL. Corel is violating the terms of the GPL. Perhaps this was unintentional. Regardless, it must be corrected promptly, if only to specify that the license language only applies to those parts of the distribution wholly developed by Corel.

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This is nothing more than pro-Microsoft propaganda.

Microsoft got caught with their pants down, yet again, and this guy, and the moderator who moderated this up, don't like it.

Microsoft is utterly corrupt, and is destroying themselves. Their astroturfing won't do any good, in the long run.

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KDE has always been Free Software.

I realize you're just trolling, and you're probably a paid astroturfer, but still, others might be reading who actually believe the garbage you're spouting.

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And KDE has always been Free.

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Burger King had a deal with PepsiCo from roughly 1983-1988, if I recall correctly. After that deal expired, they went back to Coca-Cola, who they had dealt with prior to the Pepsi deal.

OT: does anyone actually like those awful gel-coated "crispy" fries Burger King sells now?

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However, too many people forget that legality is not the same thing as morality. I dare say, that as a fellow Libertarian, you, more than others, should recognize that. It is because of the failure of most people to draw that distinction that we have the level of over-legislation that we see today.

So, while the employer is almost certainly within his/her legal rights (at least in the US; I don't know for sure about in other countries), to do so as a manner of course would be highly unethical.

As some others have said, however, if this is used only in the presence of preexisting suspicion, I don't see such an ethical problem. I suspect that the temptation to use it in other cases is too great, however, to be able to realistically limit it to only ethical use. Better to just avoid it all together, if you are an ethical employer.

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Public universities and other governmental agencies should be forbidden from using any non-free software unless they can prove that there is no appropriate free software available for a particular application.

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Isn't it Pepsi that generally does this? I know it was Pepsi at my university (Humboldt State Univ.).

Pepsi seems to get a lot of the governmental deals, at least here in the Pacific Northwest.

Also, Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners' new ballpark) has only Pepsi...but at least they have Alaskan Amber to make up for it. :-)

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Yes. That's correct. LyX, and then KLyX.

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Yes. My mention of Matthias is not in any way a slight of the GNOME people. They are doing good things, too.

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I put Matthias at the top of my list because at a time when CDE was the pinnacle of UNIX GUIs, he saw the need for a real UNIX desktop environment, and started the long process toward the very usable KDE that we have today. His work and foresight is making acceptance of Linux and Free/Open/Net BSD on the desktop possible.

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Hello? Not to be argumentative, but isn't what is happening to OS/2 precisely what makes closed-source software bad?

BeOS is closed source, but it has a future.

No. BeOS may have a future. Because it is closed-source, you can never be sure of its future.

Only open-source software is assured of a future, as long as anyone is still interested in it.

IBM, and others like them, are never going to sucker me into closed-source operating systems again.

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Some people feel that it is still a superior client (not me, anymore), because:

• It has an easy-to-use, yet very powerful object-oriented GUI shell (the Wor kplace Shell).
• It is compatible with older Windows programs (pre-Win32s 1.25).
• It is great at multitasking DOS programs (not such a big deal anymore)
• It has a nice multiple-inheriting object model (SOM)

Sadly, IBM has neglected it for so long, that it has been basically dead for years. I still have it on one machine at home (my wife uses it for email--PMMail is a nice email client), but I switched to Linux full time (I had been dual-booting OS/2 and Linux for a while before that) a couple of years ago.

This is why I will not use any proprietary software, unless I have no other choice; you are at the mercy of the company who holds the source. Never again! If it's not open source, I avoid it, to the extent possible/practical.

Thanks, IBM, for teaching me the greatest benefit of open source.

Although...they would redeem themselves in my mind somewhat if they would GPL SOM and the WPS.

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What?!? This is sheer idiocy. All modern UNIXes use SysV init, because it's hands-down better. You have the ability to use the backwards, old-fashioned BSD way by lazily sticking stuff into rc.local, rc.sysinit, etc.

How can you seriously argue that the flexibility that runlevels provide is somehow a disadvantage?

Sheesh. It's stuff like this that makes me think less of BSD advocates. Crabby old men, indeed.

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Anyhow, when will there be a Linux show in the Pacific Northwest? We have lots of computer-related industry here, trees, ocean, mountains...as well as tons of microbreweries. What more could you ask for?

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