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Windependence Day

Posted by michael on from the man-is-born-free-and-everywhere-he-is-in-chains dept.

An unknown reader points us to the Windependence Day contest sponsored by DesktopLinux. Cute idea, and I'm sure some people have exciting stories of battling the talking paperclip...

4 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. How about.... by simetra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Focusing all this energy on creating replacements for the apps that keep us tied to Windows?

    For me to run Linux on my main PC at work, I need specific things: A Groupwise client, a Novell client, a pcAnywhere type thing to check on remote systems which cannot be replaced by Linux because of the apps that must run on them... ? These things would go a lot further than a doorprize, though free stuff is always good.

    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
    1. Re:How about.... by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are incorrect about what is tying you to Windows. It is your dependence on proprietary communication protocols and file formats.

      The only way to "kick the habit" and to bring any real competition back to the SW industry is to only use software that interchanges data in standard formats.

      In the mean time, many dedicated OSS developers are fighting the losing fight of trying to create reverse-engineered software for many of the more popular proprietary formats and protocols. God bless 'em.

      -Peter

  2. One question though... by The_Shadows · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Indenpendence Day is ID4....
    Does that make Windependence Day WD-40?

  3. Windependance != Freedom, it seems by Phil+Hands · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think it's a shame that most of the prizes are partly or completely non-free software.

    It brings to mind what I believe is a translated polish proverb:

    A change of leaders is the joy of fools.

    To exchange one set of proprietary terms & conditions for another, even if the new ones are a lot less aggravating, when one could instead have grasped Freedom in perpetuity, is a wasted opportunity in my opinion.

    --

    Debian: GNU/Linux done the Linux way