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Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal
Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
Hey, don't be so hard on yourself! at least you're not a stinkin' AC !
IBM and Germany have been working together for years
How does one say LUNIX RUELS in german?
Linux is dead.
LU
..and thier Scheiße films!
-- OMFG = Oh My Floatse Goatse
Well it is great news to see articles like this, to help prove to those people who still consider Linux to be a 'toy', that it has really come into its own. I cannot for the life of me work out why people say this.. If supercomputers, government systems, banking systems, and render farms for major motion picture companies can't persuade people that Linux has hit the big time, I dont know what will!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
I thought seeing this as a large hit against Microsoft WAS looking at the glass as half full!
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Blue Skinhead Penguins.
D~y
Wow, I'm pretty psyched about this news. Combine IBM, the company with the best track record for Linux products with Germany, the European nation with a similar reputation, and only good can result.
I've used Linux solutions by both of these companies (IBM's Linux superclusters and Germany's excellent SuSe distro) both at home and in high-impact low-failure-rate enterprise contexts. I have not once been let down, ever. Contrast this with the closed source free-as-in-shit Winbloze ME95NT, which nearly brought my life to its knees.
I can't wait to see what comes out of this groundbreaking deal! Linux may finally be able to compete against the lesser operating systems.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
All they need to do now is integrate open source with Oktoberfest and they can have free software AND beer. What would be some good (funny) names for a German Gov't Linux distro?
Linuxkraut?
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I keep hearing that the FBI's "Information Network" needs some major restructuring. Including a much needed upgrade too all their hardware, and a big fat-daddy database to keep all their intelligence handy with smart searches and logic bots to trigger alarms. Mabey we can convince them of the merits of open source, and at the same time create some jobs for us linux h4x0rs.
..considering the recent bad press over old news.
Best Windows Freeware
From the article:
"We are raising computer security by avoiding a monoculture, and we are lowering dependence on a single supplier," he said in a statement.
This is not really a valid argument, since all systems need to be secure. More systems, more potentially open doors.
Nevertheless, great step up for free software!
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
The huge amounts of anti-Linux trolling speak volumes about MS' fear of becoming another Novell.
HAL 9000 may have been a who(m) as opposed to a what/which, but crashing was certainly an option for HAL!
I'm glad that our comrades in Germany have seen the value of using an Open Source OS. The vast army of Open Source developers will provide the most stable and secure OS as its code is there for every person in the world to review and to enhance.
Only when large entities embrace the efforts of the skilled developers in the Open Source community can we withstand the underhand tactics of MS.
A huge blow to M$'s family jewels, and a big win for Tux :)
Later,
Phil
Ich bin ein Penguin.
"It limits choice rather than increasing choice."
Yet another jaw-droppingly hypocritical statement from a Microsoft spokesperson.
Asikaa
Come in, twenty-seventy-seventy, your time is up.
Und jetz fur suzammen totalle andere. . . IT'S!!!!
You are not the customer.
Unix? Open source? I don't think so.
While the software itself is free to download from the internet, companies - such as SuSE, the German distributor whose version of Linux IBM is using - can still charge for technical support and other services.
They can, of course, charge any amount for any part they want. They just can't restrict your rights to sell it again (at least on the GPL'd portions)
In proprietary software such as Microsoft's Windows, on the other hand, a single company controls the code, setting licensing terms for users but blocking outsiders from accessing the code.
They'll let some select few view the source code... but it's a look, don't touch sort of relationship. "Shared Source" and all that crap.
I really wish people that wrote about this stuff had more of a clue about what they were writing..
Why did Germany go with IBM? I mean, if they wanted to go with Linux to save money or for other reasons, why didn't they just contact SuSE?
Techno meets techy.
Best Windows Freeware
I'm sure is the support and roll-out assistance that is being paid for... this is the government of a strong world power, not a h@XX0r site on the net. People (at least those that matter) don't mind PAYING for a good SUPPORTED product...
What too many people don't seem to understand around here, is that "free as is beer" is not NEARLY as important as "free as in speach."
NAM
The two rules for success are:
1) Never tell them everything you know.
"Linux is a variant on the 30-year-old open source Unix operating system, which is generally held to be almost indestructible and by far the most reliable core for computer systems for whom crashing is not an option."
Unix is open source? This comment seems to give Open Source Software quite a history.
J
Fire in the sky
"It's the only way we can supress freedom of choice", Bill 'Hitler' Gates said on Monday. "We won't stop until the inferior Open Source has been destroyed." Reponse was mixed. Somebody played RTCW, and whupped some M$azi ass.
it says that IBM is using SuSE...
What comes first, finding a teacher or becoming a student?
I think it is not nice for SuSE, maybe they see it as a big blow to ? They are of German origin, after all. And they have a nice distro, I think.
Ceci n'est pas un sig
Bill Cosby said at the Rice University commencement this year that his grandmother who had a third-grade education came up to the answer of the glass half-full/half-empty dilemma whereas he as a doctoral student could not. Her answer was:
"It depends whether you're pouring or drinking."
I personally say it doesn't matter. Top it off and let's get vashnukad!!!
-jag
http://starboard.flowtheory.net/
Linux wins AND Microsoft loses. Why would you cann this glass only HALF full? What more do you want?
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
What you don't seem to understand is that "free as in speach" isn't NEARLY as important as "Free as in StarOffice with spellcheck"
The Dopester
"Yes, I'm a Karma Whore, but I'm doing it to pay my way through school."
How come Linux, Free Software and Open Source advocates can provide answers to the "difficult" questions but Microsoft's advocates CANNOT?
The german government doesn't buy Linux, and IBM isn't selling Linux. Just in case you've been living in a box for the past 5+ years: IBM has turned into a huge SERVICE company, and that's what they're selling here: The service to make a solid concept, implement it and provide support for a Linux-powered government infrastructure.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Not alone
:-) There does seem to be an encouraging trend towards the use of Linux by big institutions and governments. And since people tend to "buy what they know" perhaps we will see a top-down pattern to Linux usage -- companies first, and then their employees at home -- rather than the bottom-up approach everyone seems to be expecting.
Mexico, for instance, has mandated open source in its education system - although it is widely believed to have botched the implementation. And Peru is considering a law mandating open source software.
Microsoft wrote protesting about the law and warning of collapsing software markets and portraying a nightmare scenario of incompatibility. But the answer - from a Peruvian congressman - refuted the letter point by point.
Hee hee! Viva la revolution!
Troll? How? Email me with how, exactly this post qualifies as a TROLL?
Maybe "Overrated" but not a TROLL... Aparently stating the obvious is TROLLish...
Let's moderate the moderators...
The Dopester
"Yes, I'm a Karma Whore, but I'm doing it to pay my way through school."
Now boys, let us not get overly excited. What does this meen. Is this server only or is it desktop too? If it is server only it isn't really that big a deal, a bit sparse on details.
Look a monkey!
It will catch up with you - you are merely being relocated to the east.
Linux uber alles.
IBM sells the hardware solution to the Government. They also sell the support for the software (middleware or OS).
Mainly, IBM receives the money for the consulting that they do prior to setting up the hardware and then the support afterwards.
...And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984)
I wonder what is going to happen to the .doc format.
I hope that ppl will start using open formats to comunicate important documents.
If more govs do the switch. I wonder what will happen to closed file formats.... ( or will M$ port office to *nix )
--=.=-- www.cyber2000.qc.ca
"Only IBM would SELL something you can get for FREE, and I think only Germany would BUY what you can download for FREE"
Well, I believe IBM is selling them "computer systems based on Linux" (quoting the article). And most likely support for these systems as well.
Monocultures are prone to being wiped out by a single disease. If you have diversity, that won't happen. It's the reason that there are different sexes.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
This is veryt interesting, but the Open Source in the public administration is still very rare.
The computing systems of the whole EU will probably be standardized or at least some guidelines will be given to individual countries.
This will be the main battlefield among all competitors (MS, Open Source, Sun, & C...)... and it's easy to see that the whole European Union is as important as the US!
Also in Italy some suggestions tu use open source software were defined, but the MS software is still ruling...
I think I will watch and see...
667 The Neighbour of the Beast
IBM isn't charging them for the software, but for the implementation. Just because something is free doesn't meant it's not gonna cost money to set it up. (especially if you want it done the right way from the start).
To expand on that, when you are buying red hat in the box, you aren't paying for the software but for printed documentation and the pretty pressed disks.
HTH
Linux is dead.
LU
Strange, looking a this I would expect MS reaction. Like e-marketing people e-babbling about Open Source not being "e-professional" or being "a threat to e-commerce"
;)
Just like they did when Chile approached to PA/Open Source.
Probably MS this time wasn't fast enough and now IBM is protecting this deal.
PLUS, this time, no one can say "hey there is no gain with open source".. I guess IBM isn't doing this for free.
I feel this a really good thing for EU. I think lot of german geeks are proud being in a nation (dislike USA) not controlled by an (almost)-non-gov organization (like MS)
Obviously i'm exaggerating, but europe is going to be the herald for e-justice
:dikappa
I am not sure I agree with the Open Source vs Microsoft paradigm that everyone seems so caught up in. I think that people pick on Microsoft because they are big and visible, but no one picks on Adobe, or any of a number of large closed source companies when they lose contracts.
I think that there will always be some areas where closed source software is the best option (OrCAD being a good example), but many other areas are ones where open source simply is a better model of development-- operating systems, office productifity apps, some games, dev environments, etc. (there will always be closed source games, I think, though).
This is significant because it indicates that the Germans are making the very logical choices with regard to security (not trusting a foreign company), etc. and shows that open source IS the best solution in many cases.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
Some win. Others lose.
And what has that to do with Germany nowadays?
(From the article: Proponents of open source software for governments say the code is more bug-resistant and more secure - as well as saving huge amounts of money thanks to avoiding being locked into a single company's licensing fees.)
Er.. yeah.. thanks.. though not that your post has anything to do with the article.
To Quote Richard Purcell, Microsoft's director of corporate privacy
Is it really going to be another 5 to 10 years before Microsoft's products security becomes "Trustworthy"?
Maybe this one deal alone is enough to keep SuSe in business and by extension United Linux.
I wonder when the government of the United states of America will get on the bus.
For example, simply look at the nature of all life. There are many different types of life, even among the same species there are variations. Within a single species, there is usually enough variation that if a nasty disease spreads throught that species, there are likely to be many (of the same species) that are varied enough that they will not be destroyed by that disease.
Another example, MS Outlook. While it's arguable whether or not MS Outlook is responsible for the security breaches related to it, you simply cannot argue that these problems would have been less disasterous had organizations not used one single email program.
While a monoculture isn't necessarily more prone to have security breaches, they are definately more prone to disaster.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Lederhosenfunnyhattentighenschlapfengestumpf Linux
HEIL LINUX ;-)
(just for fun, nothing meant by it)
- In Memoriam: Jeroen de Bruin (1972-2004), bye bro
Linux is a variant on the 30-year-old open source Unix operating system, which is generally held to be almost indestructible and by far the most reliable core for computer systems for whom crashing is not an option.
I think someone at the Beeb is confusing Linux and Unix. As far as I know (although I expect I will be corrected) there isn't an Open Source Unix.
Get your own free personal location tracker
Oh wait...
Yes it does, it shows the strong ties between a leading American corporation and a country that on more than one occasion has tried to take over the world. I find both of them despicable.
They're migrating the servers only to, i think, suse. The commission that had to decide which way to go came to the conclusion that, in a nutshell, linux is not ready for the desktop and that trainig expense would be way to high...
The US is going to have to play catch-up on this one. In about five years the US government will be wishing it had been as smart as the germans.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
"Any policy that favours one thing over another isn't helpful," a Microsoft Europe spokeswoman told the Journal.
"It limits choice rather than increasing choice."
I think it's time to proclaim this Microsoft representative a troll. Two way reality is "their monopoly is greatest tendency to achieve what he says it isn't good in this case".
By the way, I don't recall they would say anything good about any other platform or software. They are always favouring their side and limiting choices with their "Security by obscurity" and closed formats.
Well, things you say must really depend on one fact "Who got it and who hasn't"
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
Good question! The party line at IBM is that Linux is a server solution. If there are desktops involved this would be significant.
Man, 30 years ago I would not have believed a statement beginning this way would imply victory for the little guy!!
Practice random senselessness and act kind of beautiful.
Why do you like to post at -1?
I always troll and crapflood as an A/C. This forces moderators to mod me down. It makes me laugh at their stupidity.
As far as I know, the idea is to migrate the servers to Linux and keep Windows XP on the desktops. Sound more like Tux has one foot in the door and the glass is about 1/8 full.0 2285.html
Check out http://www.bundestag.de/aktuell/presse/2002/pz_02
[sorry, German]
That's why I support such inexpesive and fun products such as KDE, GNOME and XWindows that allow me to put pictures of Xena and Dark Angel on my desktop.
Heh, this was marked as a troll for some reason, when it's good information. No matter how precious Linux may be to you, one still has to face the facts. M$ dominates the market and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon.
Remember, it's just an OS.
**runs and hides in a bunker**
Linux is dead.
LU
As far as I can tell, it's a virus, not a worm.
Under Windows NT, the "mortal" and "administrator" roles are ordinarily mingled in the same accounts, meaning some users running e.g. Outlook may also have write permission to the executables they use, which is required for a virus to spread.
In the default configuration of most Linux systems, no "mortal" users have write permission to any of the executables they would normally run.
In the case of a virus, at least, running together with Windows systems does not increase the risk to the Linux systems.
DNA just wants to be free...
Microsoft and its spokespersons are so pathetic because they never use the truth or logic to propound or support their statements.
Microsoft is a typical pathetic liar. A pathetic liar is one who only judges what they themselves say based upon how good it feels when they hear themselves talk.
For Microsoft, anything that sounds like it may promote Microsoft's interest is classified as being true and correct without any evaluation of whether or not the statement is actually true or false.
The same applies to "right" versus "wrong" as far as morals and violations of laws are concerned. There is no independent determination of whether something is legal or not. It is helps (or appears to help) Microsoft, then it is presumed to be legal and therefore implemented.
That is why Bill Gates beat up on DELL to stop their promotion of desktop linux systems. That is why all of their illegal acts where approved at the highest level. There was no moral judgment.
That is why Bill Gates and Microsoft make the dumbest statements.
Under oath Allchin claimed that somehow the GPL was in part responsible for not including a SUN compliant JVM with XP. Never mind that SUN does not even use the GPL for Java. The importance to Allchin in making the claim was to bad mouth SUN and the GPL under oath even when the statement does not make any sense at all.
Under oath Gates and two other witnesses claimed that temporarily removing a few icons is what was bothering the court of appeals when they found that commingled code violated the antitrust laws. I guess the idiots at Microsoft do not know the difference between an icon and source code? Clearly their lawyers must since they tried to ask the court of appeals to take a second guess at the commingling issue. They said, "no", we meant what we said. So, Microsoft lies about the decision and fabricates a fake remedy claiming it is responsive while any one knows the benefit of the illegal commingling is being maintained in violation of federal law.
Once you understand how a pathetic liar thinks, the statements from Microsoft make sense. It is not the truth that matters. It is not whether it is right or wrong. The only criteria is whether it promotes the financial interests of Microsoft. If it does that, it must be true, right?
NexuSys - Linux support by the best
a) I find the family trees involved here pretty confusing, and people find plenty to argue about. That's not my point :)
b) the UNIX trademark is one thing; de facto "acts like UNIX" is another. "Variant" seems a fair word for me, though -- if I came up with a workalike system similar enough to the Dewey decimal system that it could be used interchangeably in many circumstances, I think "variant" would be an alright way to describe it. Same with Linux and the BSDs -- based on UNIX, whether or not they're stamped with the name by The Almighty.
c) OS X is widely touted for its UNIX underpinnings (and is an official UNIX, I'm 99% sure, though the right link isn't slapping me in the face yet), and Darwin is open source (and available separately, incl. for x86), even if Aqua isn't.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
It is a good question whether IBM is going to support linux desktops under this deal.
I have often commented that linux on the desktop will have fully arrived when companies such as IBM, Hpaq, DELL, Gateway, SUN and others fully support the linux desktop as part of the full solution.
SUN (surprisingly) may be the first major company to do so openly. DELL tried and Gates illegal acts caused them to stop. Hpaq and others may make a deal here and there for linux systems. But, only when the companies actively promote the linux/unix (desktop/server) combination will the linux desktop really take off.
The technology is there. SUN's StarOffice is right there. Other office suites are also available. (Maybe, Corel will even reverse course and again offer WordPerfect Office on linux?)
And, with Lindows and Xandros both about to bring out their distros focused upon the desktop use of a PC (rather than a server), perhaps a few of those OEMs will seriously consider a promotional campaign.
The corporate accounts will come first. With Java and Delphi/Kylix as well as other development environments making cross platform applications feasible, corporate accounts can easily adopt a linux desktop or linux/Microsoft solution.
What is very clear is that Microsoft will design its products to harm those customers who try to use non-Microsoft products. That policy is dead obvious. And, it is directed at preventing non-Microsoft products from having fair and open markets. That is why Gates took the baseball bat to DELL. Microsoft's policy is to harm those customers who use other technology.
So, the quicker customers move off of Microsoft the better off they will be.
NexuSys - Linux support by the best
Once again, something got lost in the translation. "Free as in beer" got translated to "free beer", and the Germans couldn't sign the contract fast enough.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Wow!
Glad the US government is not using an OS that has a single, global kernel lock!
Jamey Kirby
A lot of folks believe IBM provided Nazi Germany with electronic cataloging support which allowed for the Unpopular to be shipped-off to death camps:
Since its publication in February, Edwin Black's book "IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation" has stirred unprecedented controversy among students of the Holocaust, American enterprise and information technology.
Of course, an informed person might not believe every little thing they read. ;)
Actually, the use of linux has received its start from the bottom up. But, the numbers are hard to come by.
Many professionals in IT have started using linux on their home and personal systems for many reasons. And, when they find (found) that open source systems work just fine and can contribute, those technologies have worked their way into corporate systems.
But, the major bump will first come when the top companies in the industry openly support a linux/unix solution across all systems including the desktop.
It is stupid to sell Microsoft desktops and linux/unix servers when Microsoft designs its technology to harm those customers who try to benefit from non-Microsoft technology.
IBM, Hpaq, DELL, SUN, Gateway and others have to wise up and avoid the companies that design its products to interfere with the effective use of the technologies out there. And, that is precisely what Microsoft is doing. So, Microsoft is the company to avoid.
NexuSys - Linux support by the best
Unix? Open source? I don't think so.
You don't have a good IT background have you ?
www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/books/mos2/sample-1.pdf
The history of UNIX has been told elsewhere (e.g., Salus, 1994). Part of that story will be given in Chap. 10. For now, suffice it to say, that because the source code was widely available, various organizations developed their own (incompatible) versions, which led to chaos. Two major versions developed, System V, from AT&T, and BSD, (Berkeley Software Distribution) from the University of California at Berkeley. These had minor variants as well. To make it possible to write programs that could run on any UNIX system, IEEE developed a standard for UNIX, called POSIX, that most versions of UNIX now support. POSIX defines a minimal system call interface that conformant UNIX systems must support. In fact, some other operating systems now also support the POSIX interface.
(This is copied from elsewhere, look it up on google for a history lesson.)
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
It says that switching to open source can damage a country's indigenous IT industry, because some varieties of open source software place restrictions on copyright and intellectual property. "Imagine if the software industry were tied in to restrictive licenses with unreasonable terms. How could anybody want to function in an environment like that?"
It also says that it is a more reliable partner than smaller, less well-established open source distributors. "Consider IBM, this open-source dot com the German government has decided to do business with. What's their track record? How long have they been around?"
"Any policy that favours one thing over another isn't helpful," a Microsoft Europe spokeswoman told the Journal. "That's why we support our applications on a wide variety of operating systems. We want users to have the choice of where they want to go. That's why we provide software for all version of Windows!"
The BBC article does not mention the fact, that SuSE is actually involved in this deal. The German Linux Distributor will deliver its Linux software while IBM will manage the IT infrastructure.
>>>>......M$ dominates the market and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon.
Remember, it's just an OS.
Yeah, dominates by losing the domination
***throws a bomb in a bunker and runs away***
Iron penguin!! I was rolling on the floor laughing.
For example, look at the Napster chapter 11 story. What I see is the sky gone dark, a dazed, wobbling Napster logo, and on the screen in big red letters: FINISH HIM.
But back this story.
Microsoft is playing as Scorpion again. Microsoft always plays Scorpion---can't get enough of those harpoon combos. ("GET OVER HERE!" crunch "aieeee"). Stuck over in the corner is Liu Kang, crouched. Linux hasta be Liu Kang---he's the good guy, right?
Scorpion is beating the crap out of Liu Kang, or he would be if Liu wasn't blocking. Blocking most of it at least. At some point Scorpion gets cocky and overextends and you see Liu land...
After Scorpion flies, Liu Kang morphs back into Shang Tsung. Huh, I guess the hit belonged to IBM, that ancient, shape-shifting sorcerer. I bet some flaming skulls are up next. This makes it less clear who is the good guy or the bad guy.Germany and IBM have been working together for years. Since the third reich
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
I think corporatism is a huge threat to Linux enthusianados everywhere, not to mention Europeans.
We have to fight against the status quo, even if it means being jailed like Dmitry.
You'll note that even when Tux is trudging through the pounding rain he doesn't wear a suit or a helmet.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
This is wonderful news for the UNIX/GNU/Linux OS, the one designed by Richie and Thompson, partially implemented by Stallman, and with the core system completed by Torvalds.
Does this mean RMS will now want us to call Germany, GNU/Germany?
In a somewhat related story, Taiwan is pushing free software.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Conformism, whether in the form of raingear or deodorant, is to be fought tooth and nail. It is only by violently offending the non-elite that Linux will succeed.
I noticed this too. Is this spokeswoman even aware of what policy means. Here's the dictionary definition.
In laymens terms "policy" is when you favour one thing over another.RMS changed the conventention. Didn't you get the memo?
you mean:
Bavaria is NOT Germany!
But also check out the links, they even have the Peruvian government one listed next to this story.
Interesting time are ahead I think and hope.
StarTux
Wow, this will be the first big partnership between IBM and Germany since they helped the Nazi party record and sort all non-aryans, cripples and homosexuals for segregation, internment and slaughter.
Bet you don't see that on their home page.
Big Blue? SolidBlue.
Ace
How about this quote from the BBC story:
"Mexico, for instance, has mandated open source in its education system - although it is widely believed to have botched the implementation."
What is this about?
Does anyone know about this?
Is Mexico's experience going to make Linux look bad?
Will Mexican schools look to Apple and Microsoft now?
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Oooh, I'm sorry I said that.
Yay! Germany and IBM getting back together! We all know how well that turned out last time.
(the obligatory nazi references..)
"Das final solution für mein Kampfuter"
"Linux - the thousand uptime-year reich"
"Ein Folk, en Reich, Ein Distro."
"StürmLinux - der König alles Operativsysteme"
"Linux - Der GNU/Führer"
I guess it kind of depends on what side of the fence you are on, eh??
Already Linux/Unix dominates the server market. We're getting stories almost weekly with increasing frequency about large companies, governments, and school systems switching both servers and clients to Linux. How many stories do you see about companies switching from Linux to Windows??? It's just a matter of time now:)
In the "OSS War" against Mickeysoft and proprietary software it's a quite shure guess that germany is gonna fall first.
:-) ) - likes to celebrate himself as a technology guru of his o-so-advanced bavaria and seems to support the movement himself. Verbaly that is.
Since the german parlament in Berlin has decided to migrate a substancial part of their IT infrastructure to Linux (Note: Linux - not BSD or something else) and just know larger cities and regions - like that of Munich - are about to ditch 'doze for cost saving, safety and perfomrance reasons there's a good chance of a domino effect building up enough momentum to cause the one or other OSS rupture across the IT globe. IT and especially Linux is hip and 'leet in "Krautland" - traditonally a country that relies on technology and it's know-how as main source of export - and nobody in germany wants to give himself away as somebody who isn't up to date with the latest. Thus so many german polititians and officials mentioning Linux.
Supprisingly the current conservative canditate for Cancelorship Edmund Stoiber - normaly the kind of guy who wants to forbid "Killergames" like Counterstrike (yepp, we've got better quality german alloy blockheads too
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
So IBM is thriving overseas, yet here in the US they are laying off countless employees. Am I the only one who sees a problem in that?
i don't want to start too much of a commotion, but i'm suprised to see germany doing business with ibm again. i'm sure we've all heard about their working with the nazis.
i'm not anti-ibm, i've always respected their research and innovation, but this kind of news really upsets me.
R.I.P.
The big difference between Microsoft and the other closed-source software companies is that Microsoft actively tries to destroy the healthy software ecosystem that open-source creates. Oracle has not released press statements saying that the GPL is "viral" and "dangerous". Adobe has never tried to cut off the gimp's air supply. Even historical control freaks like AOL, Apple, and even IBM have embraced open-souce for parts of their flagship products. Microsoft is the only company I can think of that's actively trying to destroy open-source software through bullying OEMs, illegal bundling, and generally spreading FUD.
Adobe's also on my shitlist for the Sklyarov arrest, but nobody is fighting open-source the way that Microsoft is. That's why they get so much attention and garner so much hostility here on Slashdot.
This
Spring time for Linux and Germany.
Winter for Ballmer and Gates.
"Linux macht Frei"
may have some unwanted
overtones, I guess.
This is fantastic news, and a huge boon to the Linux community.
After all, the last time IBM and Germany got together, they really set the world on fire.
Think about it people. No more Solitaire, no more .WMV porn, no more games.
What impact will this have on Shockwave and Flash games? Will there popularity rise? Those questions remain unanswered, only the future will tell.
but...but the anti-US/anti-corporation sentiment is growing strong
Three Rings for the Linux-kings under the sky, .NET Developers doomed to die,
Seven for the Kernel-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for
One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the Land of Microsoft where the Shadows lie.
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them
In the Land of Microsoft where the Shadows lie
I found this fitting since in the end, it is not a massive army that defeats the ring, it's the little people, the ones that were never considered by the Dark Lord himself. The Dark Lord launches his own attacks, "Microsoft wrote protesting about the law and warning of collapsing software markets and portraying a nightmare scenario of incompatibility." But in the end his armys are defeated, one by one, "But the answer - from a Peruvian congressman - refuted the letter point by point." The end is nigh, do you know who our Aragorn is?
To make a pun demonstrates the highest understanding of a language
brilliant! :D
keep it simple.
My favorite alluded-to M$ whine was: "It [M$] also says that it is a more reliable partner than smaller, less well-established open source distributors."
Which, to me, is tantamount to saying, "why go anywhere else for your gratification needs, when we've been feeding your crack cocaine addiction steadilly all this time (and without our repeated bitch-slappin', pimp-beatings of you leaving marks, either!). Oh, and, by the way, here is this week's security patch #y to repair security patch #x we issued yesterday."
Mmmmmm... Bold, yet refreshing!
The disk defragmenter that ships with Windows 2000 and XP was written by Executive Software, a company wholly owned and run by scientologists. The German government and people, being thoroughly familiar with totalitarian philosophies and regimes, are VERY anti-scientology. They recognize and understand that scientology is Nazi-ism taken one step farther, it is a nazi-esque philosophy dressed up as religion. I should know, I once was a scientologist. Scientology is the closest thing to an amalgamation of the mafia, fascism, big business, and a mind control cult, with a money scam thrown in for good measure. Because of the relationship between Microsoft and Executive Software the German government has refused to implement computing solutions that utilize Windows 2000 or XP. At one point the German government was demanding that Microsoft provide them with a version of Windows 2000 that was free of Executive Software's code. They didn't want to support a group overseas that they were working very hard to eliminate in their own country, with good reason I might add. On top of this add things like Echelon and the accusation that Microsoft has installed back doors into windows at the behest of the US intelligence community and Linux makes absolutely perfect sense as the platform of choice. Using it doesn't help support an evil cult and it doesn't make you vulnerable to US government spooks. I'm very glad to see this.
Lee
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
"Any policy that favours one thing over another isn't helpful," a Microsoft Europe spokeswoman told the Journal.
WHAT?
IS THIS MAN ON DRUGS OR WHAT!
Doesn't he realise who he works for! I mean bloody hell, his company has basically taken the entire UK government IT sector over (or soon will) and dreams of owning the Internet and lives of all those who use it.
Give us his name and e-mail please I wish to talk with this man to see what bloody planet he's from. Can't be this one.
Hmmmmmm..... Deep fried and look like Squirrel.
Funny how every time some one decides against a Microsoft product it is deemed as limiting choice rather than making a choice.
A government (or any customer) is fully within their right to discriminate against a vendor for what ever reason they may wish. And, that includes defective products, inferior products, insecure products, proprietary products or simply the use of illegal means to preclude competitors.
The US government should take the same approach as indicated by Germany, France and Peru.
If you are going to be spending the people's money it should be for products not simply padding a single corporation's wallet.
I have email from individuals suggesting that I should not discriminate against Microsoft just because they are violating Federal Law.
But, that is a perfectly legitimate reason for doing so.
NexuSys - Linux support by the best
The enjoyment of tux...
It's all Hood
...get anyone to listen to their answers in a truly open forum...uh...I mean on /.?
Did a MS fan post a response to this or any discussion lately? I haven't read the sub-zero posts in a quite a while, so I wouldn't know. I bet you don't know either.
It's all Hood
...another one.
Just as a matter of interest, did you honestly believe that this comment had some relevance to the substance of the story?
If no, what problem do you have that forces you to share with us the first thing that comes into your head?
If yes, you might like to join the privileged elite (10%) of your country and travel outside it occasionally to improve your sociability in international forums.
DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, is a registered association, founded in 1917. Its head office is in Berlin. Since 1975 it has been recognized by the German government as the national standards body and represents German interests at international and European level.
they standartize everything. i wouldn't be surprised if there would be a DIN Norm for a government linux distro.
--
making up good sigs is a hard thing to do.
Like the one the CEO of IBM recieved from Hitler for setting up the infrastructure that helped make concentration camps more efficient...
"Any policy that favours one thing over another isn't helpful," a Microsoft Europe spokeswoman told the Journal."..."It limits choice rather than increasing choice."
Your nose will pay for it.
The optimist says the glass is half full.
The pessimist says the glass is half empty.
The engineer says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
MrCreosote Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump!Meow!Thump! "You're right! There isn't enough room to swing a cat in here!"
Find the SuSE press release about this (in German).
my other sig is a 500 page novel