Slashdot Mirror
Sometimes, Microsoft is Right...
Now many many users of Slashdot have expressed their dislike for search services that order results based on cash, and many of us don't use IE, so the question comes up: why should we care about RealNames at all? Why does the failure of some poorly managed, ill-conceived company warrant any space on Slashdot? Alternative root servers make for a better story, no doubt. I'm the first to agree that RealNames deserves very little of your time, but the story of RealNames has recently taken a turn that is both annoying to me personally, and worrying to me as a long time participant in the open source scene.
Keith Teare, CEO of RealNames, has tried to make it seem like it was Microsoft's monopoly power that made RealNames go out of business. Lets review: RealNames had a deal with Microsoft to provide the RealNames service to MSN and Internet Explorer, for which they paid Microsoft a fee, and in return they got to derive revenue from selling the RealNames to companies, so basically Microsoft was likely RealNames' sole source of income. Keith and his coworkers were very happy to tie their horse to Microsoft while Microsoft was willing to pull them.
I don't need to explain to the Slashdot reader why RealNames was a poor idea. It is something you feel in your gut. I mean, in the end if you're going to accept the consensus reality that is the domain name system, are you going to stick with the somewhat broken NSI/ICANN/Pick-Your-Favorite-DNS company structure? Or are you going to go to a completly left field, poor, expensive excuse for NSI like RealNames? If you are a company trying to establish a web presence, do you choose the system that everyone has agreed on and publicize your url "http://www.bobstigerrentals.com" ? Or do you put: "RealName: Bob's Tiger Rentals" in your ads?
To illustrate further: Back in the day, I bought the linux.com domain name for the then-VA Research (Now VA Software) from Fred van Kempen (And there was much publicity, huzzah). Four or five months after doing this, I got a call from James Ash at RealNames trying to sell me the Linux RealName. This was not unusual, as I'd get any number of calls trying to sell me anything from containers full of stuffed penguins to whole companies (I was the wrong guy for those calls ...) What shocked me was the price he thought we'd pay. My mind remembers it as a horrible inverted Ron Popiel style sale, with none of the charm of Ron's products. How much would you pay to control the "Linux" RealName for four years? You'll be all over MSN and IE! $19.95? $29.95? $39.95? Try 1 million dollars.
It was a lot of money then, it's a lot of money now. It was a lot of money for any business. I told him we'd get back if we were interested. I didn't get back to him.
This is the innovation that Mr. Teare claims Microsoft squished, his right to overcharge for a dubious product. While Caveat Emptor certainly applied in the case of RealNames, his claim that Microsoft, somehow, has some duty to continue to provide the RealNames "service" to their browser client rings false. And that is the point of relating this bit of personal history.
I have little interest in engaging in schadenfreude over broken companies and laid off workers, but I do take issue with Keith Teare's attempt to jump on the anti-trust complainants bandwagon. If it is his hope that by crying foul on Microsoft now he can derive some sympathy or some other unknown gain, he'll have to look somewhere else than here on Slashdot, especially considering those that have a valid complaint against the software giant. Even considering recent developments I can't find any sympathy for him or his company, a company that, in my mind, belongs in the same class as LinuxONE (the California, not the Korean, company) and Digital Convergence.
mofos!
eat it!
eat it raw!
rah rah rah!
guess the reference and win a monkey!
Waves hand:
*Microsoft is good.*
*Penguins are evil creatures.*
*Linus Torvalds belongs in the trash.*
*Slashdot sucks.*
*Internet Explorer is the best web browser.*
Get my drift? There are some things money can't buy, and for everything else, Microsoft is never right.
I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
Microsoft is making about a billion dollar a month just in interest rate, most open source businesses are draining their capital in a quite fast rate.
That means Microsoft is doing something right and those other companies is doing something wrong.
First of all, where did DNS come from? Unix.
Secondly, what did RealNames depend on? Windows.
Thirdly, who caused all of the DNS problems today? Microsoft.
Why are all the problems to be blamed on Microsoft? Because they don't know how to port Unix software.
Why is it that the *nix version always works better than the Win32 version? Because *nix programmers actually know how to port stuff.
Nuff said.
Every time you Troll, god kills a kitten.
please... think of the kittens
Also, we have a word for individuals who actively fight against the government - terrorists.
BOSTON (AP) - Several Army National Guard units attempting to confiscate
a large arsenal of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed and
forced to retreat by elements of a para-military, anti-government,
right-wing extremist group early this morning. National Guard sources
report that there were a number of casualties on both sides of the
conflict, although exact figures are still unknown at the present time.
At a press conference immediately following the armed clash, the governor
indicated that the heavily-armed, right-wing extremist faction, made up
of local citizens, has known links to the anti-government tax protest
movement. Describing them as a "relatively unorganized mob of cowardly
right-wing extremist terrorists," he blamed the rebels for recent
incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices in the
state.
The National Guard raid on the extremist arsenal followed a widespread
refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently banned assault
weapons. Earlier this month, the governor met with federal law
enforcement officials, at which time he decided to issue an executive
order authorizing the forcible confiscation of any illegal firearms in
the state if citizens did not voluntarily turn them in.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one government official pointed out
that "nobody would have been hurt had the citizens of Massachusetts
simply obeyed the law and turned in their weapons voluntarily, instead
of listening to the anti-government, right-wing extremists. We must see
these dangerous, undemocratic radicals for what they really are. They
are an extremist mob of cowardly terrorists upon whom our justice must
be swift, certain and severe."
The guard units initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of
illegal weapons and ammunition. However, other troops attempting to
seize firearms and ammunition nearby met with stiff opposition from a
relatively small mob of heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped
off about the raid by several alert anti-government dissidents.
At one point during the tense standoff, the National Guard commander,
Colonel Francis Smith, ordered the armed dissident group to surrender
their firearms and return to their homes peacefully. However, the impasse
was quickly broken by a single gunshot, allegedly fired by one of the
extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the fierce ensuing exchange of
gunfire.
Ironically, the local citizenry blamed the guard troops rather than the
right-wing extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be
restored, armed citizens from neighboring areas had descended upon them.
Finding his forces overwhelmed by this armed and angry mob of radicals,
Colonel Smith ordered a hasty retreat.
The governor has called upon the citizens of Massachusetts to support
Army National Guard and federal law enforcement efforts to restore law
and order. The governor has also demanded the immediate arrest of those
responsible for planning and leading this cowardly terrorist ambush
attack against the guard troops. Law enforcement authorities have
released the names of the radical, right-wing extremist faction leaders.
These include the disloyal, unpatriotic, undemocratic, anti-government
rabble-rousers Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock. These cowardly
anti-government terrorists still remain at large. The governor urges the
citizens of Massachusetts to remain loyal and patriotic, and to
immediately report any rebel troop movements to either federal or state
law enforcement authorities.
I'm totally fuckin' st0n3d!
but the cubs still didnt win the series! ha ha ha. oh, those cubs.
kittens? i HATE kittens! damn you kittens DAMN YOU ALL AND YOUR FURRY HIDES TO HELL!!! ill kill every last one of you? *sob* bastard kittens...nooo the memories...too horrible...arrrghhHH
But the Cubs still didn't win the series! ha ha ha. oh, those Cubs.