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States Demand Windows Source Code
Zeb writes: "Looks like the states who are continuing the anti-trust case
don't believe MS' claim that they cannot provide a stripped down version of Windows. They want MS to release the source code so they can verify MS' claims . Maybe MS shot itself in the foot here?" The Register has a story as well.
Heh heh heh...
Remove the beam from thine own eye, dudes.
Having had to read -one- person's code and make sense of it, can I ask where in the world the judge is going to find people who can read the source code -and- make sense of it -and- determine if the arguements have merit? And, of course, have it happen inside of a year? Any sufficiently learned group of programmers will probably be either too expensive to hire for the job or bicker amongst themselves... you have to admit, most programmers are either biased for or against MS in the first place. All it takes is one arguement and poof...
"I'm sorry, your honor, but the witnesses are deadlocked..."
Better yet, I can imagine MS giving the states the source code to, say, Microsoft BOB or Windows 3.1, and waiting to see how long it takes them to figure out it's the wrong thing.
...stripped of comments, white space stripped,
merged all into one file, variable names mapped
to numbers, etc...
...I think it's safe to predict the winner of this year's obfuscated C contest.
Clippy:"It looks like your Searchig and Replacing!"
Drone421:(Absently talking to Clippy)"Yep, I good go through each one of these
Clippy:"Please type your question"
Drone421:"hmmmmmm..." How to I do a global search and replace?
Clippy:"Please choose your Encarta (TM) topic: Harlem Globetrotters, Search and Rescue, or UNIX"
Drone421:"Hmmmm... I think on second thought, I'll ask the Hotmail people how they got rid of all the BSD copyright stuff in their code"
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
They don't want anyone to see the source code because no one must ever know that Windows XP is written in Visual Basic...
States: We'd really like to know what this following section of code does.
Balmer: Code? What Code?
States: The line of code that says
while 1 {
gosub microsoft.world.domination();
}
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
"Microsoft cannot base its defense on the design of its source code and simultaneously deny the litigating states the opportunity to test those arguments by interrogating the code," the states said in their filing.
"All right, COMMAND.COM, talk! Where are you hiding those hooks?"
The following file is missing or corrupt: COMMAND.COM. Type the name of the Command Interpreter.
"Don't play dumb with me, mister! We've got EXPLORER.EXE in the next room, and he's telling us plenty!
The following system files have been replaced with older versions by a program you recently ran. These files are currently in use and cannot be...
[smack] "No more of that funny stuff, wise guy! You don't think we're on to you? You think we don't know exactly what you're trying? Why not make it easy on yourself?"
Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.
"Well, I suggest you find that file quick, before one of your SYSTEM32 buddies rolls over on you."
An internal consistency check failed.
[pause] "Does that mean you're ready to talk?"
The system cannot find the path specified.
"All right, get him out of here."
normal(adj)- people who don't sit on slashdot all day wondering why everyone else isn't building robots [DECS]
...that Windows XP was really developed in Fortran
I Heart Sorting Networks
I gather that the TCP/IP stack is BSD-derived. And guess what? That part of Windows works. ;-)
All I see is blue screen, stop error, page fault..
--Yahiko
Everything I say is a lie.
Except that. And that. And that. And that.
MS Attorney: Your Honor, my client agrees to turn over the Windows source code when it is finished.
Judge: And when will that be?
NY Attorney General (whispering): When no one has any money left with which to buy Windows.
MS Attorney: Well, it's hard to say...
Judge: You will deliver the source code in its present state to this court no later than two months from today.
MS Attorney: Your Honor, my client respectfully requests that Windows be treated as an intelligent life form and therefore allowed to plead the fifth.
Hmmm... seeing "Microsoft" and "victim" in the same sentence is making me go cross-eyed. As soon as my eyeballs return to center, I'll roll them up voluntarily.
Steve Magruder, Metro Foodist
Gov't coder: "We'll we removed the IE source from the o/s and it crashes"
Gov't manager flunky: "O, so what about the original compiled source?"
Gov't coder: "Um, well it crashes too"
thirsty*i^2
"Ya I finished that last week, it just doesn't work"
We'd all die laughing when we saw it. :-)
Is that the kind of world we want?
Yes.
February 15, Redmond, Washington (AP) -- "Microsoft officials, who were initially outraged over the rebel states' request for source code access adopted an abruptly accommodating stance late yesterday."
"It seems that Bill Gates had started an internal initiative to find the best way to obfuscate the Windows source code in the event the states' request were to receive a successful ruling."
"Almost immediately, some of the top programmers from Microsoft, some of whom had spent years working on the Windows product, declared that native source itself already represented a sufficiently obtuse format and that not further obfuscation could better fulfill Bill's objectives."
"Let them have it!" declared one programmer gleefully and without hesitation."
"Provided by the management for your protection."
So you get a free turkey, a 200 gift certificate AND all the added protien of all those yummy yummy 'features'? You are living large my friend!
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"