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Microsoft Delays New Licensing Terms
Reader tempestdata indicates this CNN story, writing: "It appears Microsoft is facing quite a bit of opposition for its new licensing program." It looks like Redmond is granting a one-fiscal-year reprieve to the many companies who were caught off-guard by the announcement of new Microsoft licensing plans. Perhaps some of those companies would be interested in the new KDE 2.2.beta1 -- at least KDE and GNOME don't seem likely to institute monthly subscription fees.
Uh, isn't that because you have to actually be charging money before you can "work the beancounters"?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
If the threat of the DOJ and the possible British anti-trust trials aren't enough to make them stop the insanity, at least something they have showed signs of fearing should. Oh well, a guess a leopard really can't ever change his spots
Personally I would pay good money if Apple would come out with MacOS X for Intel. It wouldn't be that hard with Darwin already ported, and with Mac's ease of use, AND the power of UNIX, I imagine alot of companies and indeed average Joe Schmoes would choose MacOS over Windows.
Isn't the whole idea of Ximian based on charging subscription fees for software services?
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
The Microsoft Algorithm:
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
Correction: they have stolen/borrowed/appropriated some really tight ideas... the only idea I know that was actually original to the boyz in Redmond was Bob... can anybody think of any others?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
""Never in my career have I seen the customer base so angry at Microsoft," says Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Giga Information Group. "They were calling Microsoft things you wouldn't want your family to hear."
Obviously not a visitor of Slashdot, now is he?
yeah, thats my point. Microsoft panicks them with possible budgeting problems, then turns around and says 'oh, no, its ok for you to upgrade now if money was your problem etc'. granted its not hard to work the beancounters, but MS does a grand job of it.
KDE/GNOME arent even considered at work because they dont cost money. as stupid as it sounds, if they charged for it we would probally use it. go fig. so KDE/GNOME dont even get a chance to play the beancounter game.
yeah.
,
faeryman
There are many organizations who haven't yet fully deployed Win2k and have no plans to deploy XP. The 4 year cycle cited in the CNN story sounded typical. The outfit I work for probably won't be in a position to deploy XP for at least a couple more years. The developers despise using NT/2k. A skunkworks development environment already exists using non-MS OSes. If MS turns the thumb screws, things could get interesting.
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
are they just allowing *ALL* companies (except those w/the obvious resources to handle the new licenses) to wait a year?
I honestly never thought that MS would go quite this psycho on licensing...
Did you?
Speaking of .NET, would you trust Microsoft with your data?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Unfortunately, I don't think that this really changes anything. Microsoft, for all we bash them here, is not stupid. Stupid companies go out of business. They may have shady business practices, they may not make the greatest software, but they are certainly not the imbeciles we often make them out to be.
My guess is that they are doing this in order to gauge the marketplace reaction to their subscription model. Many people don't feel the need to upgrade, and it's possible they've got something under their belt that will change that in the next year (or at least they hope it will change).
KDE is certainly nice, but for your average Joe Sixpack, it still isn't quite there, and corporations already have a huge installed workforce already trained and familiar with Windows. It will take Microsoft driving customers away (already begun) in combination with the maturation of one or both of Linux's desktop systems to really get things moving. Much of the software already exists, but the user base simply does not.
This creates an unfortunate Catch-22, because many pieces of software are useful, but are certainly not polished for the masses, because the user base isn't large - and the user base isn't large because the software is not polished.
One thing that Linux on the desktop needs more than anything else is a standard look and feel. Diversity is certainly a good thing, but it's hard to explain that to someone who has to learn a different set of menus for every single piece of software that they want to use.
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"To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!"
It really does leave you looking for alternatives. At universities, often many labs are used for students to log into some web based instructional tools and to print up papers. It makes you seriously think about the viability of a lab with Linux, StarOffice, and Mozilla or Konqueror. I know in many states there have been budget cut backs and it leaves you wondering if it is best to completely avoid these types of Microsoft agreements. As all budgeting takes quite a bit of planning and red tape, this type of shifting of licensing agreements is a little scary. Does anyone know of any universities that actually use a set up like the one mentioned above?
bbh
Sounds like Slashdot might be forced to remove your message because it looks like a copyright violation from one of Microsoft's advertising brochures.
Except that it's true. This has always been Microsoft's strategy as long as I've been watching them and I've been watching them as long as they've been around. Back before it was Linux it was OS/2 and before OS/2 it was DR DOS. They have a similar strategy that goes "code something nasty" "Did we get caught" "OH SHIT! WE GOT CAUGHT!" "Deny Everything" "Repeat"
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Clearly Microsoft has been using the press to float trial balloons about controversial policies. Instead of discussing the policy with customers (like a company that doesn't have a monopoly has to), they formulate a Machiavellian policy, float it in the press, and watch the firestorm. If it looks politically manageable, they proceed. If not, they repeal it as a misunderstanding.
Ziff-Davis had a story that described how Microsoft had to back off of SmartTags and their upgrade policy. Remember when Microsoft spammed their users (Infoworld, 1999) to encourage them to write to congress to promote their "freedom to innovate"? On the other hand, they're policy to rent software was a miss in 1997, but they're doing it now with Office XP.
The result is that, these policies get postponed, but Microsoft just keeps trying. Either they're waiting for people not to notice an especially odious policy (or to be too jaded to care), or for their monopoly power to be so entrenched that it doesn't matter anyway.
I'd like to think that this is an example of the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. I suspect another expression will sadly become more appropriate; To paraphrase Mel Brooks, "It's good to be a monopoly."
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
Eventually, yes. Microsoft appears to my naive eyes to be getting stupider by the minute (this brain-drain is to be expected; with stock price dropping, stock options are worthless, and the better employees are jumping ship in droves). Just because they haven't gone out of business yet doesn't mean they're not stupid...
Let's see here... Micrsoft stock plumented from $115 to to $40 during 2000... and that was before the economic slowdown. Seems like somebody must have been doing something stupid somewhere! Think Ballmer's so smart? Any CEO that would announce in public that their companies stock is massively overvalued SHOULD have been dismissed immediately by the board of directors. Only in a situation where his personal friend control most of the stock would he be allowed to stay on. Think Microsoft Bob and the talking paperclip were smart ideas?
Yes, the cost of training users on a new interface is expensive (~$2000/seat). That's why I keep insisting that Microsoft owns the desktop, but Linux will take over the server and embedded markets, where retraining is not an issue. On the desktop, KDE can still win if it keeps a consistent user interface while Microsoft completely changes their interface from one OS release to the next, making it cheaper to retrain employees on KDE once, rather than every time Redmond tries to shove a new OS down thier throats...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Sure, give me also 16 years to reach where they have reached, to work at their terms (exclusive licensing deals which are legally questionable), money, and good sales people - and I'll get there..
People always seems to forget how much Linux has been progressed.
Go ahead - search on your CD archive or get Redhat 4.2, SuSE 4.0, Slackware 2.0 - and install it, see what applications you got (without upgrading to today's libs) and you can see how much Linux has been progressed..
So sure, Linux won't get the desktop market tommorow - KDE and Gnome will get much more mature, and at the end, one of them will be dominant wether you like it or not, companies will get into one standard (as crappy as the standard will be), and there will be apps and Linux will get a bigger desktop market share.
I hardly think it will take MS share, but I belive it will get a good hold within 2-3 years, which is a long time to make Linux more mature and friendly to newbies...
Hetz (Heunique)
Yes, but Linux as a server OS and Linux as an embedded OS is already kicking Microsoft's ass... do desktops really have a future, or will 95% of PCs be replaced by embedded devices (e.g. web pads) ten years from now? Having a lock on the buggy whip industry doesn't do you very much good when everyone is buying cars... look at Novell, for example -- how much good is the fact that they used to control 75% of the NOS market doing them now?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Last time somebody "granted" me a reprieve was when I paid my taxes late, and it was the government. Am I the only one who has the distinct feeling that Microsoft takes itself for a state within the state ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
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"To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!"
I haven't delved much into the new licensing except for what is in the article. This sounds like mainframe software licensing where after the initial cost you pay a yearly maintenance fee. If you pay the maintenance fee then upgrades are no extra charge. Large IT (mainframe) shops are used to this. This actually helps them in allowing each user to keep current. In my group at work, different combinations (95/97/2000,etc.) of office are in use and sometimes there are problems when opening files. If we were on the same versions, then we wouldn't have the problems. The big cost in the upgrades will not actually be the software, it will be number of hours you pay someone to perform the upgrades. Upgrading a few mainframes is nothing compared to upgrading 5,000-10,000 PCs. Just my 2 cents.
The next time you sit down to your Windows PC at work, remember that these sorts of licensing fiascos cost your company real cash.
The company has to make up for the increase in expenses somehow, and we all know how most companies are doing that these days.
makes my business professors argument that Microsoft has in no way hurt business.
The protests over Software Assurance arose because the program and the 2001 deadline to enroll were announced after enterprises had set budgets for this year. That meant enterprises likely had to either raid existing budgets or trim workforce to enroll.
If companies are laying people off just so they can afford the new Microsoft license system it is a sure sign that companies are being hurt by Microsoft's monopoly.
I am sure this is an extreme example, but even still, it makes you think..
Granted they're offering individuals a free trial subscription, but RedHat Network is charging a subscription feefor their Software Manager service. Pricing starts at $19.95/month for individual systems, with volume discounts of $990/year for 10 systems. That's the sort of money Microsoft is asking, is it not?
And then ... the pitch: "Tired of being pushed around by your software? There's an alternative ..."
> "Microsoft is saying 'we made a mistake,'" says
> Chris LeTocq, principal analyst with Guernsey
> Research. "They listened to IT executives."
> Those executives were saying they could not
> afford the new licensing model this year.
Any IT manager out there worth his or her salt should ask Microsoft for an extension, begging and pleading for time. Then immediately put together a task force to reduce their company's dependance on Microsoft's products. Maybe not completely (they do have a monopoly, you know), but be able to put your company in a position where you have a second vendor for any product Microsoft makes. That way you have a second vendor to keep Microsoft honest. That means instigating policies such as "all company documents should be stored in an open format like RTF or even PDF, but not like DOC."
That way, the next time Microsoft floats a trial balloon, your company can have a credible alternative to give Microsoft in response.
Remember, your first responsibility is to honor your fiduciary duty to your company's shareholders, not to Microsoft. A simple concept, but something overlooked in all companies I've worked for.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
I work for a DoD contractor. We build datawarehouses. We play with BETA's. We are a real company that makes a profit. You don't know what the hell you are talking about...
"Microsquish"
"...can shove it up Balmer's.."
"We need some ALTURNATIVES"
and most importanly:
"if only Linux was viable on the desktop"
I'm not making this up. Another concern was that the whole IT department would have to be re-trained for linux, in addition to a lot of other people, which would be very expensive. Someone quietly noted that it'd be cheaper than $10 to $20 MILLION in microsoft taxes. Someone else mentioned that the dep. of defence is moving over to linux (see, sometimes it's GOOD when people don't read the whole article). In case anyone had any doubts, there IS interest at the enterprise level.
I probably shouldn't be posting this, but if it gives a few developers the extra motivation to hurry up and produce a 'consumer' linux...
I'd put my money where my mouth is, and pitch in, except I'm working full time and working on an engineering degree at night...so no flames please.
> Microsoft has pushed back the deadlines for
> enrollment to its new licensing program by five
> months
You got an extension this time, but if you're late again, they're going to have to break your legs!
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
You forget, Taco will not remove posts at Microsoft's request. At the request of the Church of Scientology, on the other hand...
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
So, use the price of a distributon CD if they want dollars to assign to it.
Beancounter: So, how much would this new system cost? ...
Sysadmin: Thirty dollars for the CD with the software on it.
BC: Thirty dollars per seat? That's cheap.
SA: Well, if you want a physical CD for each PC, but you only need one CD for the entire company.
BC: Thirty dollars for an enterprise-wide license? How much do they hit us for upgrades?
SA: Well, minor stuff we just download the upgraded packages from the vendor. Major updates we buy another thirty-dollar CD, but those only happen about once a year.
BC: And we need to pay $BIGNUM per seat for MS software, every year...
SA: Plus retraining people on the new way the new versions work, plus upgrading all the other software that won't work right on the new systems, plus upgrading the hardware because what we've got isn't supported on the new versions...
BC:
Who modded this down? This isn't troll. It's the truth! Every once in a while this crowd needs a reality check: It is quite true that KDE and Gnome are not yet suitable for most businesses. Yet, when I say this, I get moderated down.
I love Slashdot dearly, but every once in a while I want to quit the whole mess and get back to my regular life. This is one of those moments.
I don't think that they planned on this, nor do I think that they realize how much this will hurt them. However, they don't really have a choice at this point. Microsoft has backed themselves into a corner (as far as business models go) and can't get out.
Open source would not be where it is without one very positive thing from Microsoft. They came into an industry which was dominated by players who were interested in selling a few copies of their software to businesses for several thousands of dollars per copy and realized that most of their expense was in development. So they undersold their competition in order to dramatically increase the market size and take advantage of this economy of scale. This tactic has helped to make the personal computer as affordable as it is today and such operating systems as Linux possible (the development of the internet has also helped this dramatically).
This model is only sustainable in a growing computer market. If the market ceases to grow, then it becomes harder and harder to maintain the revenue streams necessary to pay developers and still sell the software at insanely low prices. Microsoft executives know this and they know that their stock will tank or worse if they don't do something.
So here is their plan:
- Cut down on piracy. This helps with the immediate cash flow.
- Try to dominate the middleware market with
.NET (given that their plans to, in their words, "pollute" Java failed to some degree.
- Force people to pay them subsciptions for their software.
These strategies hinge on #2, dominating middleware, and I doubt that they will be able to pull it off because #1 will alienate them from some customers and induce a lack of trust and they will be facing competition from a variety of sources, both comercial and open source. So they will have trouble collecting royalties.Anyway, this indicates that Microsoft is becomming aware of the problems that it will face with these companies but still has yet to grasp its full impact.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Heh, well we need Microsoft too, without them people wouldn't be able to see the distinction between good and evil quite so clearly. Do you think there's any chance Linux would have grown at this rate without these guys being the way they are?
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Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
Under the program, enterprises don't need to actually deploy the software, but they must have the license.
It's a good thing that I'm licensed for Sid so that I can use my Potatoe!
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
listen guys, OSS is great, I use it for my all of my servers, and my database's... but, ya know what? Guess what is on my desktop?? Thats right, windows, 2000 pro to be exact. Ya know why? Because in general OSS on the desktop, is very badly implemented. Sure, there is KDE and GNOME, but think of what you have to do to maintain a working desktop... Sure, at first getting it up is easy, but maintaing it from the home users point of view- i dont think so. This may sound like a good/bad idea for you guys... but, get a central "company" (no, redhat doesnt cut it) that distributes a single distro of linux, get the KDE and GNOME guys together to create a SINGLE desktop environment, bind it to that version of linux, write *home* apps, that use a STANDARD interface, market it for the home consumer, and sell it for $20 a pop. If you want OSS to replace windows, and have true innovation, then do that.
>Besides which, if I'm trying to run a business, I >need a desktop environment that is suitable for >no less than 100% of my business's needs. I agree. Now what are you using, since MS doesn't work for this either? MS Word blows chunks on included images that StarOffice 5.1 breezes along over - either Word or Windows cannot reclaim memory correctly. Outlook, the alleged premier workplace claendar app, does not seem to allow a search for an available conference room, according to my company's IT drones.
I assume you are not trolling because your opinion is the most prevalent one I have seen in the business world.
That does not mean that it is the truth. There are a few problems I have seen with using if for businesses but they are comparatively minor. Abiword is still in beta and is missing key features like footers which makes StarOffice the only reasonable office suite (I have had stability problems with KOffice, sorry, and OpenOffice still lacks spell checking capabilities). Windows is the only realistic option because people think it is. But that is not the case, and I have run a business entirely on Linux. When I have needed to, I have written basic CRM apps, etc. in PHP and run them off Apache.
With the licensing issues, I run freely redistributable software as much as possible on my business machines. It exposes me to far less in the way of licensing liabilities, and prevents proprietary lockdown of my data. The worst problems I have ever seen with Linux in the business have been solely caused by workers being afraid to make mistakes, and so refusing to save their documents on an unfamiliar system. This is a problem but a 5 minute instructional introdution will reduce the worst problems here.
The real problems are psychological, not technological.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Why would using GNOME or KDE cause all productivity to stop? I have been able to use these desktops to get work done. Can you give an example?
Get real folks. KDE and Gnome are nice for the tech crowd but they ain't for the business crowd.
What features that are needed for business are missing from either of these desktops that Windows has? There are database apps, office suites that are not so bad to use that people can not get work done with them. (Hint if DOS is still used by many buisness out there as I have seen then how would GNOME or KDE on Linux be worse?) You offer no examples, have no evidance and in a latter post complain that you got modded down. Unfortuanetly I have probably been trolled but if you can give some answers to my questions then I might change my opinion of you.
Molog
So Linus, what are we doing tonight?
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
It's not the subscription charges that the companies are upset about, nor is it about the cost of the subscription. Read the article again! The real problem the companies had was the fact that Microsoft changed the terms after they had fixed their budgets for the year and doing this sort of thing plays absolute hell with the bean counters.
These companys were already paying a subscription fee for their software (so they have the priviledge of upgrading whenever they want) at a fairly reasonable price (paying for the software about once every 6 years - a lot less than buying every 4 years costs).
This anger isn't about the new "subscription" model they are planning for consumer software. This is simply about changing their pricing structure without enough advance warning.
Fear: When you see B8 00 4C CD 21 and know what it means
Clearly microsoft is in the phase of Deminishing Returns with its R&D effort. Linux is grabbing the low hanging fruit of Usable GUI environment, GUI development tools (Qt and kde designer, and Glade for gtk/gnome/python), and other things like basic office applications - word, excel, powerpoint clones (Just to name a few).
.NET is the glaring example of their new innovations. They want to suck web and back-office developers onto their windows desktop like a hoover vaccuum cleaner, and extend their developing experience with MS dev tools and servers for their High End OS line.
.NET, he's not joking. There's really nothing he can do to curtail the future cloning and pac-man like action of Free/OpenSource software. Microsoft has to innovate itself to future growth by locking developers into a development model which is best served by microsoft (despite being open). We will see if things like Mono and Java will offer competitive stakes on the noosphere, and I beleive they will.
.NET and shared source, with a happy smiley face attatched to it to stop the bleeding of MS developers to perl, apache, php, etc. It's not working, but I may not even be tracking their real strategy.
So how can microsoft innovate to sustain the lead it has over Free/OpenSource software?
When Bill Gates says he's betting the future of his company on
Using Marketing to slow down competition, or outright kill it, is a mainstay at Redmond headquarters. Is Microsoft trying to kill Open Source or slow it down permanently, or is this all a ruse, while MS is off in some other place staking out new markets and lock-ins? Open Source bad, GPL is virus, Linux steals intellectual property -- meanwhile they come along with
It seems to me that MS is in huddle mode, plotting future marketing thrusts, and product innovations, probably with the sole purpose of cutting off the Open Source airsupply (developers). It's a mind game from here on out, but once we fixate an image to MS's marketing ways, it will be hard for them to shake it off. Therefore, I encourage advocates to point out what subtle deceit and lies are contained in Microsoft propaganda and marketing campaigns, and for them to offer theories as to what their ulterior motives are. A Frank discussion of Microsoft's behavior and meddling is what's needed to exinguish their attacks. Big voices carry a larger impact. And the recent IBM call that Microsoft is exhibiting extraordinary arrogance is most welcome.
This is not bullsh*t. I've found myself lying and making up costs for the software libre work I've been doing. If you don't have costs you get two reactions: they either write it off as some unsupportable nerd nightmare that will require three PhDs to maintain or they hit pause and give you blank stares.
This in an environment of severe budget constraints. You would think they'd be falling over themselves to adopt this model, but the fear of the unknown is palpable. They tell themselves that no one ever got burned going with MS. Besides, with the beast setting the upgrade schedule, they've got more time to work on their swing.
illegitimii non ingravare
So with companies wanting to push to a three year cycle, and Microsoft wanting everyone on a two year cycle, there is a little truth to both sides of the argument.
But Microsoft's argument requires you overlook the facts for an awful lot of companies. How convenient.
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
They'll feel better if you let them pay the $30/seat. I've actually done this, a few times. The guys buying the software feel good about it, and the Slackware or redhat guys get some money... Everybody's happy.
Ok...this *is* offtopic (-1). But I saw some posts telling that KDE is there but not yet blah, blah...
I work for a federally funded program to improve Math/Science skills in 10, 11 and 12 grade kids. We also have a computer lab (read win98 lab)for rudimentary work. I had installed KDE/Linux on one of the machines. The kids routinely come and chat on yahoo and browse the web and write reports etc., on the windows machines.
I thought none of the kids would use the linux machine as it was *wierd*. But recently I have seen a girl who had been branded as *dumb* use the linux machine. I was surprised to see that she was listening to real music, checking mails, chatting on yahoo and writing a report using StarOffice. I asked her how she was doing she said ok and gave me this look as though I was picking on her. She also printed her report and just walked. Now other kids routinely use that machine also. They have actually grown fond of some of the games on KDE and now and then a fight ensues. My guess is a KDE machine with pre-installed StarOffice and working sound should be able to replace a win98 machine in public labs.
But their only complaint is no AOL....now I can't help it can I ?
Slashdot: Tabloid for the nerds. Stuff that doesn't matter.
But Microsoft's software makes one think. It is neither so externally elegant as the least slime to have been quelled in the depths of Apple's R&D labs, nor so internally elegant as the least of the rejected patches to Linux, FreeBSD or any other Real OS. In many ways, one wonders if Microsoft is, indeed, the Absolute Evil without which Absolute Good is nothing.
But I believe that after further consideration one realises that M$ is, after all, not truly an absolute ill but merely a very nasty thing gone horribly wrong. It does have its very few saving graces, however few and far between. And even Unix is not the absolute good. Our permissions model is positively antediluvian, to give one simple example (true, honest-to-goodness capabilities would be so nice). But for all its warts, Unix (the idea) and Linux/BSD (the children)--even Solaris and HP-UX (the natural children)--are far far better than Microsoft's cruft.
One can see that, as Microsoft has failed horribly to reach OS decency, and Unix has failed far less horribly, that we are duty-bound to learn from the lessons and mistakes of Unix and progress along the path towards true OS perfection. On the one path, madness and misery. On the other, freedom and frolic. Which is the obvious, and correct, choice?
Small companies are a great potential market for Linux. However, these are the folks that don't have skilled system administrators sitting around, and the secondary support market for Linux is *way* too thin at this point to provide help for the small guys.
I can see a future where you walk into the corner clone shop, buy a Linux server and sign up for a remote support plan and forget about it. Quick, cheap, easy, and painless for the small business owner. However, right now the Corner Clone guys have all sorts of Microsoft comp seminars and trainings, products specifically designed for the small biz market (don't tell me about that IBM POS with Lotus Domino) and probably 0 in-house Unix skills. (Note that both Novell and Microsoft put much effort into their "dealer network" when they were on the way up. RedHat or someone could do the same, but where's the money?)
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Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
One can see that, as Microsoft has failed horribly to reach OS decency, and Unix has failed far less horribly, that we are duty-bound to learn from the lessons and mistakes of Unix and progress along the path towards true OS perfection. On the one path, madness and misery. On the other, freedom and frolic. Which is the obvious, and correct, choice?
Getting a life, turning off the computer, and enjoying vigorous recreational sex until 5am would be the obvious, correct choice.
Alcohol and gender are optional; pick what you want...
Si
Coming soon - pyrogyra
You know, I have faced this exact issue in a startup (now bought up) that I was working for. Having to try and find affordable apps and platforms that the business folks will accept is damned difficult. The business crowd is very picky about what they will work with. It doesn't matter if it crashes or malforms table data or whatever- if it doesn't look the same way as the last thing they worked with, the office flaks just WILL NOT touch it. Consequently, they stop producing anything.
.NET represents to them, and they don't have to please corporate auditors. And, after having tried the latest KDE, etc, I have found that the features not to be too dissimilar, stability is about the same, and there is MUCH less product bloat in the Open Source apps.
This isn't any different with most IT/IS staff either. I did testing of OpenBSD/IPF vs. PIX vs. Nokia/Checkpoint...guess which one the senior management would authorize on a PO for an enterprise, 7x24x365 fw? PIX. Even though it finished last for stability and security and only a bare 2nd in cost. Same thing goes with other products as well.
Unless the business and the founders START with open-source systems, they will likely default to MS for most things and other proprietary boxes to fill the gap. Just facts of life. Firms like KPMG will ding you on their audits if you don't run something that is "well-known" in the business world, and has a support contract from that specific business...this is how a lot of vendors keep their stranglehold on the market with clearly inferior products.
Now, on the other hand, I know of a lot of artists and freelancers who are moving over to Open Source and BSD licensed products for their work. They don't have to answer to anyone in terms of how they produce, they just need to produce. This is the group of people also most likely NOT to buy into MS's wacky licensing models.
If there is any place where Linux/BSD is going to find some inroads in the user market, it will probably be in the K-12 and 2 year college systems. These folks don't have the resources to keep up with an ongoing licensing issue that
Having supported both MS and Unix products, I would have to say that once the admin is trained, it is MUCH easier to manage multiple workstations, servers, and applications over Unix. Cheaper too. Lets hope some more schools figure this one out.
mrgoat
'Hail Eris, baby, hail Eris...pfffffffttt.' *cough* 'Yeah.'
http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/images/cfin0004b.jp g
on this webpage, both of which are an interesting read.
Point being, the cartoon reminds me of Microsoft Marketing Practices.
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Ahem, that's Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. Kaplan is the guy who heard DeCSS case.
2. In lower court, challenge findings of fact and re-visit the "is or is not a monopoly issue." Mission: pending.
The appeals court has upheld the findings of facts in full, and most of conclusions of law. They completely threw out only the remedies portion of the ruling. This is what the lower court will now hear -- remedies, not facts. The ruling is actually pretty devastating for MS, but with remedies being retried, MS has won time, and time is of the essence!
3. In the public spectrum, declare Linux/OSS the "number-one threat to Windows/MS in the future". Mission: complete.
They actually put an even beter spin on this. Open Source is the virus that threatens all businesses. As soon as you use OSS, it infects your business and forces all your code ever written to be released in public domain. So the Microsoft parrot claimed.
4. Related to number 3, reinvigorate claim from first trial that "MS faces significant competition from outsiders, for example, Linx". See Number 2. Mission: complete.
Yes! But I can't help but to recall Ghandi's words: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Just last year we were at the laughing stage. Now we have definitely entered the fighting stage.
5. Attempt to put into the claim that MS can control market prices. Create an unpopular licensing scheme and watch customers revolts. Be responsive to those demands. Force the question: "Why would MS, as a supposed monopoly, be responsive to customer demands/needs? Answer: we have to because we aren't a monopoly!". Mission: complete.
While this is plausable (and indeed an intriguing idea -- I hadn't thought of that before), I doubt this is what happened. It is more likely that Microsoft simply needs to find a better way to milk their customers now that there are fewer reasons than ever to "upgrade". Also, this trick wouldn't even accomplish what you claim, since the appeals court declared them a monopoly (see above). If anything, it would actually strengthen the argument.
6. Brow-beat friendlier-than-last-time-around DOJ into dropping Sherman claims, plead guilty to minor technical infractions of business laws. Settle with a relatively minor fine to the Federal Government. Mission: pending.
DOJ already won most of their claims. Nevertheless, that does not prevent a token settlement.
7. Settle with disheartened states, perhaps filing a motion to break the class due to lack of a favorable finding of fact. Pick-states off one by one, smallest first with paperwork/smallish settlements. Mission: pending.
See above. Findings of facts have been upheld in full.
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If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Most small businesses rely on small local consulting companies to help them set up their servers and workstations. Believe me no business owner is going to set up a network and wire the building and install NT. To the local consulting companies Linux is a big win. Their bids come in lower or they profit more with the same amount of money spent. Target the local consulting companies.
War is necrophilia.
You are confused as to what RH's commercial product is: it isn't Linux.
There is no going back. You got that bit right.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
Min: It was a nice robber-man, Henry
Henry: Did you tell him we have no money, Min?
Min: Yes, Henry.
Henry: And what did he say to that, Min?
Min: He said he'd give us a year to save some up, Henry
Henry: What a nice chap! We'd better get started; get your suspenders on, Minnie, we're going to Amsterdam.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
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If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
It doesn't have nor needs either. I hear people telling me how great it is that you don't need to program a printing mechanism, that you can just use the Gnome print libraries. Well I'm not all that impressed since I can just have lpr handle the printing, and avoid being Gnome-specific, modularize and avoid bloat.
Why would anyone want an integrated browser? I thought that's why so many crucified Micro$oft. The best thing about Unix is that everything is modular. I can use Netscape 4, 6, Mozilla, Opera, Gzilla, whatever I like, unless I'm stuck with a damn integrate browser!
does it have pretty icons and lots of online help
It's got wonderful icons, and great backgounds. As far as documentation, in less than 20 pages it fits every single thing you could ever possibly want to know about it. Everything from installation to key combinations, in 20 pages (plus the standard GPL and disclaimers).
does it have anti-aliased fonts
No. It's based on GTK, so it (like Gnome) does not have anti-aliased fonts... But up until very recently KDE didn't, and everyone lived with that. Now it won't be long before GTK gets that support, and besides, I'm just as happy without anti-aliased fonts.
is it as "easy to use" as Windows?
I would dare say it is many times easier to use than Windows. And it's a no-brainer that it is hundreds of times easier than Gnome/KDE. It's configuration is done fully GUI which no other desktop can claim, even with Gnome and KDE I find myself needing to go to the command line for one reason or another. It's the single simplest desktop out there, and it still has every feature a user could need.
I suggest that you use something before bashing it. Once people use XFce, they will keep it. Now we just need to spread the word.
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Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I realize that since most can't code, many of the Slashdot Hive mind seem to think that the business men that run their businesses are morons.
Ya know something, not everybody can code, but I bet you they understand accounting and corporate strategy better than you.
With a separate managerial ranking instead of promoting within the company, we do have the unfortunate scenario where front-line managers don't knows what their subordinates are doing. This eliminated the Peter Principle, but created a management vs. employee mess.
However, they are not dumb. Most of them use the features of the Office suite that supplies their productivity.
Guess what, your deal-maker CEO may not know much beyond e-mail and word, but I bet that your CFO crunches out spreadsheets with a degree of complexity that you don't understand. Maybe your administrative assistances can't code, but they problem use Outlook's Exchange support to administer their bosses schedule. As everyone is pressed for time, freeing up 2-3 hours of scheduling and planning is a lifesaver to 80-hour a week managers.
Your analysts may not be able to run a Linux box, but they can problem use the Access databases that they had IT whip up for their data entry personel to enter information in, and export it into Excel for detailed analysis.
If you are a small firm, whoever does your accounting probably finds Quickbooks (Win32 only) a life saver.
These programs are extremely powerful with acceptable UIs.
Sure, your random family with a PC and no real need for one (a bit of web surfing, e-mail, and the kid's school reports) may not need Office, but a corporate environment can really take advantage of it.
Until spreadsheet designers actually TALK to the people that use them, they won't understand what is necessary. Merely trying to clone Microsoft's means that you won't overtake them. You may become good enough for home markets, but you offer no compelling reason to switch. If I am using version X of a program, and X+1 comes out, I'll decide if it is worth it. If your Free version is as good as X-1, no way I'll switch. It it is as good as X, no way I'll switch. If you are better than X+1, I'll likely switch. If you come between X and X+1, well, I'll have to decide if I want the new features.
Guys, the costs of MS software aren't that significant per employee. Given the cost of an employee (office space, salary, perks, payroll taxes, etc.), the cost of equipment (computer equipment, furniture, etc), the $1000-$2000 in software to get them productive is rather small. Sure saving $500/employee for 1000 employees is real money., it's half a million. But if it reduces my employee's productivity a fraction, I will likely lose FAR more money in lost productivity.
For company's with 10,000+ employees, sure MS costs a lot. But what is their revenue/employee. What reduction in productivity is necessary to wipe out the licensing gains?
The real interesting thing here is that IT staffs know that as users upgrade on their own, they get a disaster. They also know that MS has them in a bind. If they don't upgrade, it'll happen anyway as a disaster. If they do upgrade, they'll likely benefit, but corporate accounting isn't that simple. Their department has a budget, a large change is problematic.
The problem is NOT that it is not worthwhile to upgrade, these company's WANT to upgrade. The problem is that the budget process has made now a very bad time.
Look, I love my BSD boxes. I also love my OS X workstation. I also like my Win32 laptop that lets me run my Win32 only applications.
However, the sooner the community stops patting itself on the back and starts solving problems, the sooner Free Software will make a difference.
Why should we win? It's morally better to let people help their neighbors. If I have software, giving a copy to a friend to help him out is the RIGHT thing to do. We want to win NOT to beat MS. We want to win because it will make the world a better place.
Alex
IBM is a huge company, and has been around for a long time -- and an elephant never forgets. Trust me, they have never forgotten the burn that MS put on them five or six years ago. The hatred is more intense there than it's ever been here on Slashdot. It runs so deeply that only recently did they start using MS software in any real capacity, and certain applications are still generally banned. Believe me, they are waiting for the day they can push MS out of their buildings entirely. And, they know that day will come. Not today and not tomorrow, but one day.
IBM isn't the biggest company in the world, but they are still huge, they have more money than they know what to do with, they have been down this road before, and they are just waiting, biding their time until the iron is hot.
It might be Linux, if this is the right time, it might be something else if this isn't. When it happens, IBM will be prepared, and they will know what they are doing this time. The attack will fast, fierce, and devastating. I'm just waiting and watching. IBM is just waiting and biding time. They've got plenty of time, and plenty of money, and a burning hatred. Awakining a sleeping giant indeed.
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Then I would say this: Goodbye. Slashdot is a bit rough at times, but that always makes it one hell of a ride. :-)
BTW, I know from experience that StarOffice on Linux can easily be used to run a business. I've installed it on three systems (running 3 lightweight terminals off from a central application server for cost purposes) for a few untrained users, and it took them no more than two days to understand and productively use the setup from ground zero.
Last time I checked, Gnome and KDE were both bigger than an entire Windows 95 OSR2 installation.
I think a fairer comparison would be with a Windows 2000 installation, but its a fair cop that KDE is not a small installation anymore. Anyway my last RH7.1 installation of KDE came with KOffice and a true comparison would be to the total installation size of Windows 2K plus Office.
But what do you expect when everyone has been winging for several years about how poor Open Source desktops are in terms of quality and features when compared to Windows ?
Now KDE (and possibly Gnome) are getting close in terms of having large amounts of quality, decent software people are starting to winge about how bloated it is. My answer is to say "you know you've just saved several hundred dollars per PC by not installing MS Windows and Office ? Well spend $40-50 of those dollars on putting a 256MB DIMM in each PC".
For years we've been saying that Linux desktops need to look as purty as Windows and have the same volume of quality software (and crash less often than Windows). Well now we're very close to getting what we want you can hardly complain about the amount of memory/ disk space it eats.
Konqueror is slowly becoming my web browser of choice over Netscape and even IE [yes I know its an MS product, but IE is still a good browser]
(looking forward to when KOffice can reliably edit MS-Word documents so I can kill my last Microsoft PC)
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
The only reason MS would hold off, it seems to me, is out of fear of reprisal from their customer base. They need people to upgrade constantly, to keep revenue steady.
I get the feeling that the number of 'unnecessary bloated forced upgrade uprchases' a-la office2000, winME, etc, are starting to annoy normal people as well as us geeks... I know the whole office upgraded to office 2000 due to 'compatability' with other offices and document formats.. but nobody really had a reason for actually switching to office 2000 based on features.
If MS pushes things too far, they might just cause people to seek more favorable licensing terms, considering the massive change in cost.
In Israel, a lot of organizations (military, small businesses and some industrial orgs) don't upgrade as soon as a new windows version is available.
Some organizations don't even consider an upgrade in the near future at all.
For example, the military (IDF) still has a large number of computers running win95. Only nowadays new computers start to come with win2k, skipping win98 entirely. Who knows when they'll upgrade (if at all?) to winXP.
According to the article, MS makes sure that windows licenses keep generating revenues even if organizations don't upgrades every 2 years (which is usually the case for big organizations - MS main clients)
Have you noticed lately a lot of people (certainly all my friends) don't rush to buy the newest, fastest PC available every 2 years anymore? I had a 450MHz machine until last month, then I upgraded to a simple 766MHz machine, first time I upgraded not to the max (today's 1.7GHz) not even to the faster machines (800m, 1.3g) - who needs 'em?
The same thing goes for windows OSes, who needs 'em?
MS should freely innovate some revolutionary feature or a business productive feature or just an increadibly faster, more stable, cheaper, easily extendable OS before they demand subscription fees for their software.
Reminds me of a condo where a friend of mine lives. She bought a unit at a dirt cheap price of $45K. Then shortly thereafter the building was advised to triple the asking price on their units because people mistakenly thought they must be substandard offerings. Sure enough, demand went up after the price hike.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
Leaving aside the issues of interoperability and the abundance of trained MS Office users --Until there are the ability for Joe User to figure out how to add a printer, better output, better online help, MS Word-style autodetection and formatting for outlines, various indentation styles, all the little convenience features that let a body simply sit and write without needing to look about for help or have a sysadmin on call -- until these exist, kWord, AbiWord and the likes haven't a chance.
It's the same old thing - yes, MS products cost money. But the savings is in running them, not in the initial acquisition. Office Joes work more effectively and more independently with the mature MS Office products.
I love Linux. I love FreeBSD and all the packaged and ported software. They're all I run at home. But as a businessman, there's no way in hell I'd try and drop any of it on my secretary's desk. Supporting the secretary with it would mean the end of my free time.
Windows 9x will be complex, Windows NT or 2K will be able to handle it easily.
Nothing more complex than repeatedly hitting the enter key (or whatever key that was choosen for the moment, I think that there is C somewere)
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Two witches watched two watches.
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Two witches watched two watches.
Which witch watched which watch?
I work for a DoD contractor. We build datawarehouses. We play with BETA's.
hey, that's great! you wouldn't happen to know where i could get another copy of "nintendo power gamer secrets 3" on beta, would you? i've been trying so hard to beat dizzy's adventure...
--saint----
I'd like to thank Microsoft for all the help they've given us in this process:
- The Halloween documents, which gave us the heads up about that wonderfully flexible and open server platform, Linux.
- Attempting to use Java as a political tool, instead of focusing on providing customers with actual functionality. Of course, Sun used Java as a political tool too, but Sun provided value to customers at the same time, rather than treating their customers as expendable pawns.
- Sending out lawyer's letters to companies, including the one I'm referring to, demanding licensing audits for no apparent reason, and following this up with very threatening behavior when said audit was not performed instantly.
- Scaling up anti-competitive and anti-customer behavior to fever pitch in the past year or so, putting its business practices on the radar of top-level executives through critical articles in sources such as CNN and the Wall Street Journal. As a result, any mentioning in high-level meetings of reducing dependency on Microsoft, received approving nods without even needing to explain the reasons.
All in all, Microsoft, you've done a wonderful job. Your PR and customer relations efforts are as masterful as your software.Here are the details of the switchover I'm referring to, for anyone else out there who might want to do something similar.
Starting in early 1998, we began a redesign and rewrite of all in-house systems at a billion-dollar financial services company which I consult to on architecture and design issues. An important part of this redesign was to convert all in-house and customer applications to support web browsers as the primary user interface. At the time, the company was a 100% Microsoft shop, and IIS/ASP along with SQL Server was chosen as the primary server platform.
However, on my advice, this company used Javascript as their server-side scripting language, and Microsoft Java (J++) to implement business objects on the server. The justification for this was the potential for portability in future. VBScript and VB would have been too uncomfortably proprietary. In addition, I recommended that as far as possible, they avoid use of MS SQL extensions, and do their data processing in Java rather than in non-standard MS SQL stored procedures.
A year or so later, Microsoft effectively pulled the plug on their J++ product. Uh-oh, my recommendations suddenly didn't look so good. We now had two choices: bet the future on something called .NET, even today a proprietary vaporware product with an uncertain future. Or switch away from ASP and move to a more open solution, eliminating the pathological dependency on a single vendor.
We chose the latter. We evaluated alternatives and eventually settled on a Java Server Pages solution, using Javascript as the scripting language. This meant the existing pages required only minor tweaking and changes to wrappers to be ported. We switched the business objects from from Microsoft J++ to "100% Pure Java", which gives us a choice of compilers and VMs (Sun, IBM...), and as part of the deal gave us a whole lot of Java 2 functionality which Microsoft had been depriving us of, by lagging the Java standard by years.
Now, in July 2001, we have finally begun running one of our application servers on Linux, just as a proof of concept of the portability of our system. This has worked like a charm - a system that once seemed so reliant on Microsoft technologies - IIS, ASP, COM, J++, ADO, ODBC, MS SQL - will now run on most server operating systems, with any web server, with any Java compiler and VM (except Microsoft's!), and with any reasonably standard SQL database. A stunning turnaround!
I should point out that the applications I'm talking about aren't simple web apps. They handle the back-office processing for some of the most complex financial transactions I've ever been involved with, and I've been consulting in the financial services industry for 15 years.
This conversion has all been coming together over the past few months, so it's been wonderful to sit in meetings of company department heads and have questions raised about our dependence on Microsoft, and be able to answer by saying "we are no longer dependent on Microsoft for any of our servers."
The IT manager is even beginning to talk about Gnome and Staroffice, now...
Exactly. I've worked at both COTS (shrink-wrapped-commercial), and on a contract basis for dozens of companies -- from the support end to the design and implementation. I've been to trade shows, and supported relitives with Linux-based computers I've set up for them. That experience, and watching people in general, has been enligtening; people are hostile to any change or difference however slight.
I still don't know how to deal with this, except to point out the great positive benifits of change.
Let me pound this home. The metric system is based on multiples of 10. It's as easy to deal with as cash money. Yet, people where I live hate it with a passion. I've had people mention in all seriousness that they'd "Move to another country" if everything switched to the metric system dropping the old imperial measures. (Yes, laugh, but they would try and vote anyone out of office who even talked about this.)
The user interface is the one thing that spooks people the most about computers. That the "K" and the Gnome foot are in the same location as the Start button is a comfort to people I've introducted to X. On the other hand, that they don't look *EXACTLY* like the MS "Start" icon spooks the same people. That the menus don't pop up the same spooks people. Nevermind that they are both basic lists. Nevermind that each website they visit basically has a different UI. That the 'start menu' looks different is a problem for most people.
This general attitude is a part of human nature. I've talked with kids and adults who get confused if the a card game doesn't work like the MS Solitare game. It's 'Just not right' is an exact quote. Even with a great game like PySol, the variety and depth available doesn't make up for the fact that it's different. This same attitude is clearly defined in just about every kid I've met who demands that thier parents put them to bed following a set ritual...or they don't sleep. That they must have PB&J with grape jelly and not strawberry (or vis.versa) with Shaggy and Scooby on the jar. Adults are no more sophisticated or less demanding.
The upside, though, is that I do have to agree with you that occasionally people listen to other concerns (cost, hassles, licencing, ...). My little sister's first computer was one I configured for her (Linux + X -w- Gnome). After using a friend's Windows ME laptop, she wanted that...but after a few months to think it over and actually using her friend's system, she now says "I want a Unix laptop". She'll get it too!
Get working on those demo disks, and simple *nix/X desktops folks. I'm doing my part and will be submitting work to both the SuperRescue and DemoLinux projects. If people don't see it, if they don't use it, they will never consider it later.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
MS must have concluded that since there are no dollar sales to be had in that market it's best to cut off that direction of exposing well-intentioned non-money-hungry people to competent free software.
This is irritating but consistent. Non-profits have to choose their battles carefully. Why stick your neck out in a battle that isn't yours? Can the open source world have a "policy" of giving away free software that competes with MS? With installation and support?
It's time people stopped arguing that open source stuff is harder to use than Windows - it just isn't. The barriers are all monopolistic
- 1) familiarity in the marketplace and switchover costs (overrated in the office end-user environment but that overrating is part of problem 2)
- 2) FUD
- 3) installation costs.
I think 3 is underrated. If I *give* you a box running obscure OS A (imagine you know nothing about these OSes) and a disk that purports to be able to get B running on the box, will you risk trying to install B?A big part of the defense against open source has to be maintaining advantage 3. When MS foists their drivel on a nonprofit, they are redirecting volunteer energies away from point 3, keeping the experience base down, and hence the installation costs of competitors up. This is good in the short run for non-profits since they don't waste their energies on peripheral concerns. It's bad for everyone in the long run because, well, because of what we all know about MS.
And it's basically unfair, because MS software is no easier to install than any other OS - it's just that the OEM does all the work.
mt
Last time I checked, KDE came with more applications than any version of Windows ever has, and the apps are much more useful and stable too. Out of the box, KDE is a working system. With Windows 95, all you have is solitaire.
By "clone shops", I of course really meant "small local consulting companies" or integrators. The question remains how these folks are going to beef up their Linux skills so that they can offer these services, and who exactly is going to "target" them as a sales channel.
Traditional software companies like MS or Novell see them as partners and salespeople, while on the other hand, most Linux businesses are in competition with these guys after all.
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Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
Just wondering what solution you found to run server -side JavaScript pages on Unix. I assume it's Chillisoft, but with Netscape's open source implementation, it would be cool if there was a more integrated solution with Apache.
Also want to plug JavaScript a bit -- it's a very nice OO scripting language for complex projects, even under ASP. Unfortunately it gets a bad rap due to it's client-side popup windows association.
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Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
Most interoperability issues are not as bad as they first appear. The issues I have had as such, I have outlined in my above post.
Online help? Most users don't know how to use Windows online help! Yes, help is needed. But help is available in a very large number of ways and is, IMO, vastly superior to Microsoft's online help (Clippy, anyone?).
As for autodetection, I have heard more people complain about these features than have ever seemed to use them.
I love Linux. I love FreeBSD and all the packaged and ported software. They're all I run at home. But as a businessman, there's no way in hell I'd try and drop any of it on my secretary's desk. Supporting the secretary with it would mean the end of my free time.
Supporting my parents on Windows 95 was the end of my free time. With Linux, they use their computer more and call me less.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Like many products, watchguard is running embedded Linux. Like most embedded Linux products, they don't bother to tell you that. Which is understandable, since to the average user it does not matter what the underlying OS is!!! Do you ever wonder who wrote the software in you microwave? No, you just expect it to work, with minimal intervention by you. That's why embedded devices are ideal for the other 50% of people out there who don't care to learn how to install software on a PC. One of the biggest mistakes techies make is the assumption that since computers seem trivial to them, they should be easy for everybody to understand. But let's face it, guys -- 99% of the world doesn't think like you do. Case in point: a friend of mine was talking to a secretary, who was talking about how things tend to go from bad to worse. He remarked, "Well, you can't get around the second law of thermodynamics!" In response, she just stared at him, then turned and walked away. Now, his comment made perfect sense to me, but 99.5% of the people out there would be saying "What the f**k are you talking about!"
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Global Planning (I get around in IBM, and worked there for a while) has not considered non-Microsoft platforms in years. Although you can get Linux inside the company and even a few Linux tools, the current platform is still very Windows-centric and will be for years, even if Global Planning acknowledges Linux as an acceptable strategic platform. The amount of corporate inertia IBM has to overcome is incredible and they started down the Windows-only road years ago, even though many of us run Linux, AIX or OS/2 in an unofficial capacity.
Though I use Linux as exclusively as possible, I have to admit that there are still a few things missing. There are a lot less things missing than there were a year ago though, and there will be a lot less things missing a year from now.
Oh, I'm not a zealot, by the way. I wasn't an OS/2 zealot either. I always told them I'd use anything better that came along. I jumped ship to Linux as soon as it came along. I don't hate Microsoft either. I just hate software that sucks and right now I consider Microsoft's software to suck more. If Microsoft were to come out with something substantially better than Linux, I'd jump ship in a heartbeat. Since "better" for me currently includes the flexibility of the open source license, I don't see that happening ("Shared Source" can blow me) but it could. But an open source Windows would suck as badly as the closed source one does. Fixing their stupid archetecture would break applications and dealing with the brain dead Win32* APIs is not my idea of a fun time. They'd need to come up with something completely new.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
If Microsoft dies, it will most likely be because of the new anti-piracy system that watches for changes in your hardware configuration and makes you call Microsoft for approval.
I think even the general public will get majorly pissed about this one. If anything has the potential for making customers flee, it's:
"We are sorry, but something has changed in your system that makes us feel you are stealing our software. If your use of the software is legitimate, please call Microsoft at (800) 555-1212 for instructions."
I know their language is smoother than that, but it's not that MUCH smoother, and people are going to realize this is what is meant.
Anyone who blew $500-odd on Office is going to be really angry at this one.
I just hope this won't make the next version of Office for the Mac, because I really want to pick up a MacOS X compatible version. Is there any comparable product being developed for MacOS X I should try instead? Mesa looks pretty nice, but that's just the spreadsheet component.
D
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I know of at least two woman who have wanted to introduce me to that show. Since I am incredibly lazy in TV terms, preferring to use it for watching my own productions, I have yet to see it - but it does appeal to the fair sex.
D
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Konqueror - web browser
KMail - email app
KNode - news reader
KOrganizer/kab - pim
Kate - Powerful multi-file text editor (kinda like Textpad for windows)
Konsole - awesome console program. full history, and multiple tabbed sessions.
26 games
Lots of tray apps: system resource monitor, news ticker, external taskbar, WindowMaker dock support
Multiple desktops
AIM client
IRC client
VNC client
PPP dialer
Desktop Locking
Media player
User/System/Process management
Bunch of utilities: calculator, clipboard history, character selector, etc
Powerful theming, coded widget styles (shows true flexibility of KDE/Qt rendering)
KDM - KDE display manager, for setting up a thin client network.
There is also KDevelop and KOffice, which is part of a standard KDE installation.
I notice you mentioned XFce in a few of your replies to others. XFce is all well and good, and it's nice that it has a small memory footprint. However, you can't expect KDE to be that small. Look at the power of the kdelibs! Full url support throughout the system (open and save files from ftp within the text editor), shared HTML component (for KMail and Konqueror), shared addressbook, etc. It's also all written in C++, which means large programs (but, of course, small source code).
KDE is a poweful system, so it's going to be big.
I should also add that KDE is probably always compiled with debugging enabled, to aid in bug catching. This easily doubles the size of the KDE libs and executables.
If you are having problems with shared network printers, email me.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP