Slashdot Mirror
The Empire Strikes Back - in China
jaymzter writes: "Reuters is reporting that Microsoft is dumping $750 million into China over the next three years. According to MS CEO Steve Ballmer, "What's good for the local industry in every country is good for Microsoft", especially when that other country is actually promoting and developing home grown Linux. From the article it looks like MS is willing to overlook China's legendary software 'sharing' as long as the government stays tight with Windows."
was Ball-me?
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
Geez... that's it?
Efren Belizario
headspeak.com
What we all need to ask ourselves is this: is what's good for Microsoft good for the rest of us? I think we already know the answer...
See what competition can do....
Some would say considering China's human rights record.... that M$ and China would make a good team.
Rimshot!
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
With active promotion of Linux in China, Microsoft has to be realizing that it's better to let rampant piracy of their products continue and make some profit from those who do buy than to allow the creating of a large incubator for Linux - something that could potentially threaten their market share in countries with more enforced IP laws.
Why?
If all these slashdot geeks would have just SHUT UP about big markets (country's) going to Linux, then maybe M$ would never have noticed this. (Microsoft also reads Slashdot...)
/. OK!
So from now on no more Linux success stories on
European Linux user, living in Antwerp
Hey Steve-O--
my friends and I pirate MS software too, give us $750,000,000 too. What's good for us is good for the net economy...
::.. check out some Cell Phone Reviews
The Good News:
China gets an even bigger IT infrastructure.
The Bad News:
They spend most of it on hardware upgrades. Forever.
The Good News:
More technical knowledge of computers in the country.
The Bad News:
It's all directed at creating anti-Pallendrome mod chips.
The Good News:
More people in China get onto the Internet!
The Bad News:
All they can get is MSN, and only if they use Internet Explorer.
The Good News:
China gets to upgrade their military computers.
The Bad News:
The first BSOD launches WWIII.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Seems that Microsoft finally noticed that not everybody is equal and although Europe and US are already hooked on their drugs, China is still not and so they just need to back up a little, distribute for free a little while longer, before they will collect. And China is a potential market of the size of Europe and US together. So be sure they will collect eventually.
If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
Microsoft has huge reserves, don't get me wrong, but it seems like, more and more, they are having to spend a lot of money to fend off their competition. 750 million is only a drop in the bucket, but it does add up eventually.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
This is an interesting quote coming from Ballmer. While individual industries benefit from less competition, consumers and the economy as a whole are better off with more competition. After reading this quote, my first reaction was that he was stating that competition was good for everyone, including Microsoft. Then I realized it was Ballmer saying this.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
...wait a second - you said Microsoft?
I'd like to see the hat that Bill Gates should be eating right now.
I'm not usually a big anti microsoft guy, but from my point of view (IE zero experience in marketing) this seems like a stupid decision. Microsoft has been spending ac rap load of money in this country to combat piracy. American piracy is nothing compared to Chinese piracy. its like comparing communism and capitalism... Oh wait it IS comparing capitalism and communism.
Yes yes i know that china has had an open door policy for a while now as far as foreign markets go and yes there are thousand of american companies making money there. The point i'm really trying to get across is that the market in china would be much different than it is here. Computers are not very prominent in most people's lives there. The biggest market i can see this in is the business market there.
A rabbit in the hand is worth 4 in the cage
linux open relay
or
windows open relay
were all still going to get spam from china
How lovely that an illegal monopolist is using it's ill gained cash to empower a repressive regime all in the name of extending their brand! Microsoft, the Imperial Robber Barons of the 21st century.
Power really does make strange bedfellows.
Its going to be tough dealing with that piracy, but in terms of corporate software, there is a ton of money to be made there.
The other problem is dealing with nationalism. Many countries are starting to push their own homegrown platforms because they don't want their computing industry tethered to America.
In any case, Microsoft is the poster child of "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" This is only the start... it will be interesting to watch.
This sounds a lot like how the US used to (and with some countries still does) treat communism. (domino)
"Save me jebus!" - Homer Simpson (btw, I'm probably talkin out of me arse)
What I don't understand is what they are actually spending $750 million on. The /. item just says they're "dumping" and the Reuters article just says "The Redmond, Washington-based behemoth was vague on details of its outlay" (hey! I actually read the reference before posting!).
Anybody care to make wild, paranoid, microsoft-bashing conspiracy guesses about what they're really buying? Or even informed, logical, reasonable guesses (but that's much less fun).
The entire open source philosophy would appeal to china as it is more akin to the countries communist ideals. If china were to switch to MS products, they would be forced to bow down to american capatalism. It would also be very easy for MS to slip in a little 'extra features' that could allow the US government to spy on china more easily. If they are using linux, it would be extremely difficult to spy on them, maybe china realizes this.
GoatPigSheep, the 3 most important food groups
Get real. Nothing to see here.
I'm interested to see what countries like china, who are pushing hard for the use of Non-MS s/w (from MS point of view), will do when MS throw money at them?
What were their original intentions?
-Open source is better we should use it
-Lets scare MS into giving us a better offer
I hope/feel China is of the first, but I wonder about others. I live in the UK where our authorities (NHS IIRC) were looking at Linux til MS gave a discount
For 3 years $750 million seems pretty small for a market as large as China, I mean really. almost half of the planet's populace, and they're only investing $750 over 3 years? Seems like a pretty small commitment to me from a company that has earnings in excess of 9 billion a year.
Reading the article shows that Microsoft is not overlooking "software sharing" in return for anything, as the write-up implies. The article says Microsoft is pledging to invest $750 million in China over three years, but that "China had not made any specific pledges in return".
The Beijing municipal goverment is -still- going to use Linux instead of Microsoft, as the article clearly states, so Microsoft's only benefit in this investment is goodwill. And for a developing country, investment in education, jobs, and research is very important.
It's hard to trust Slashdot these days. That's a bad reputation to build.
They'll probably sink that 750 million into spam, great, here comes another unwanted email.
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
It looks like microsoft is beating the pirates to the punch, giving away a bunch of software before the pirates can. This is just another PR stunt like making software 'gifts' to schools.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Of course, that's assuming that every single person buys a Windows PC. I take it you're in Marketing?
Ok, so there is rampant piracy in China and they get fucking rewarded with a fat fucking check?
Fuck that shit. No sir I won't calm down. We are a free nation but we get the BSA and they get a fucking check?
Isn't this some fucked up shit? They can't even obey US anti-trust laws and they still go on with software "raids". Fuck that.
I guess criminals stick together. Fucking bastards.
Bull shit.
Get your Unix fortune now!
There are 2 things that strike me about this article.. The Chinese won't like the scheme of software liscencing. If they buy a copy, they own the copy, I'm sure they won't want to effectively "lease" it.
The other thing that comes to mind, is I have to wonder if this isn't the beginning of a strategy for MS to cultivate a new, cheaper pot to draw devlopers and even manufacturers from. No need to deal with Unions there..that would be nice, wouldn't it? You might not be able to manufacture as many products that are listed as non-export..but what if you developed them there, then exported them to the US?
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
hate to tell ya - the nazi's carried bibles the first time, too
... hi bingo
Think of the it. Some day China may be taking M$ to court for monopolistic tactics. I kind of doubt anyone at M$ will be standing in front of any communist fact finding mission about poor software design or trade tactics. Here you can plead the 5th, their they can do some unsavory sort of punishment
The wages of sin are unreported and back taxes are hell to pay.
Microsoft has spent over $500 million on advertising for Xbox in the United States alone. The United States has an estimated population of 278,058,900. Which means Microsoft is spending about $1.80 per citizen to promote the Xbox.
Microsoft plans on spending $750 million on advertising for Microsoft in China. China has an estimated population of 1,273,111,300. Microsoft therefore is spending about $0.59 per citizen on advertising in China.
Granted, the demographics for each group are vastly smaller than the overall population, and the dollar, in spite of its recent downturn, still can buy a lot more in China than it can in the US. But this still seems disproportionate, especially considering China has the potential to become the world's largest technology market.
Note: All currency was figured using US dollars. Population statistics gathered from City Population.
You're only as smart as your brain.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
China is a country where many computer users can't afford the MS license fees. China is a country that is suspicious of the US. Windows is an OS that is primarily designed with the English language in mind.
Linux is free/cheap, Linux is open source (you can find backdoors if they exist). Linux is also primarily designed around English however the code is available to be modified and I'm sure there's quite a few Chinese Linux distros.
I can understand why MS want to keep China using their products, there are some very talented chinese programmers working on Linux.
I pledge allegiance
To the conglomerates
of the marketing and legal departments of Microsoft
And to the domination
for which they stand
One company
Invincible
With License fees and big brother for all
My poetry site welcomes the unusual.
Agreed with your points, but there are a few more things to consider:
Microsoft really is lagging in the Chinese market (200:1 copies of licensed Linux to Windows according to some estimates). This is because the only competition to pirated Windows at the moment comes from Linux.
Also, Gates at one point make a comment to Money magiazine (in 1998) where he stated that they need to get the Chinese addicted to software, so they will start paying for it. This has seriously hurt Microsoft's image in China (can you say Opium War?)
Finally, the major anti-piracy cases Microsoft has tried to bring in China have been ill-timed and seriously backfired.
So Microsoft is coming in from behind in the fight against Linux in China, and it is trying to make up for past blunders...
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
That must be, oh, at least 50 cents per noggin.
In China you can probably buy a chicken or two with that.
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
I get the queasies when I see any Western companies kissing the Chinese govt's butt, be them Open Source or anything else. But M$ is special:
Chinese PM: Linux secure, Windows dangelous. Fuck off.
Ballmer: But Mr. Chairman, Linux promotes freedom, while we promote tyranny! It's us who are you natural allies!!!
Chinese PM: Zounds, you're light! Let's make a deal.
Microsoft makes an annoucement that they're "investing" $750 Million somewhere, but what does that really mean?
.NET is this just giving away the razor while charging for the blades (something they want to do anyway and are possibly just piloting in China)? Does the number also include promotion and advertising budgets (beyond any give-aways)? And how much is for "real" apps vs. silly "$700 of free Microsoft Software" packages with programs like Free-Cell having MSRP's of $25 or more?
I mean, where does that figure actually come from? I imagine it's the total retail price of products they're going to give away. Or it could be the total "discount" they're prepared to give off stand alone or bundled packages (50% off each product X expected volumes). With
The bottom line is, this is a pretty silly press release/story. They can pretty well choose an arbitarily high number if they base it on the suggested retail value of product, when in actual fact, their actual net investment (variable costs) might be next to nothing. They're not even giving up opportunity costs if they're just competing against pirated copies.
Linux distros should do the same thing by assigning an arbitrary retail value to every freely distributed copy and calling that the open source "investment" in each implementation/industry/country.
My next sig will be ready soon, but friends can beat the rush!
I don't blame them - Microsoft could easily slip some backdoors into the Chinese-language version of Windows, especially if they were pressured to do by the State Department.
The Chinese won't give up Linux until Microsoft lets them see the code. The question is, can Microsoft trust the Chinese? In the U.S., Microsoft could take you to court for breaking a NDA - they have no such guarantees in China. Portions of Microsoft's treasured Windows source code might end up in Red Flag Linux.
Maybe Windows is to operating systems what nicotine is to recreational drugs. Socially accepted, extortionately priced, ultimately damaging to the user, and very hard to quit.
Or maybe I'm rambling again 8).
If we're all users, who is the dealer ?
'Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.' - George Gordon
But Microsoft would be better served PR wise by investing the money in their home country.
Besides that, I don't look at MS spending 750 Mil over three years as actually spending money. 750M / 3 = 250 M / yr. For a company that has over $40 in cash and add about $1 Billion / month that isn't a very huge donation. They make that back on 1% annual interest rates. MS probably gets, overall on their cash something more along the lines of a 4 or 5% benefit. That's $1.6 - $2 Billion per year in interest.
$250 Mil isn't insignificant, but this is like piss in the ocean to MS. And, again, if they had donated that to US schools or to American industry, but particularly schools, then they would get a huge PR boost here. We'll see how China's Empire responds to Microsoft's empire, I suppose. Should be interesting.
Bing! You need Bob's Quick Guide to the Apostrophe. Use it right, folks.
piracy is stealing. And its wrong.
However, I do believe the groundswell of interest in Linux there has the Microsoftians scrambling to develop a business model for Asia. Foreign countries are refreshingly competitive markets for software developers, and OSS has made this possible. There's no open source cola to keep Coke in check, but there's Linux, FreeBSD, etc.
Slashdot poster raises his can of Diet Coke to propose a toast. Here's hoping the Chinese take a tact similar to the Peruvians.
M$ is willing to spend a little money now, and to overlook the rampant piracy, in order to get in the door and hope to make enough points with the government to gain a significant position.
In a nation without their monopoly, M$ can't simply bully everyone to do what they want. So instead, for now, M$ will bide its time and distribute product trying to gain a monopoly first...
If it does, though, you will soon see the usual draconican M$ tactics you've come to expect. Once you realize it really IS all about eliminating the competition to protect the monopoly, it's perfectly consistent with all of their other business decisions. Competition is a greater danger to M$ profits than any amount of piracy, so they addess the greater concern first.
They'll be back for the pirates later.
And if they (horror of horrors) gain ground with Palladium, they'll use that to deal with both competition AND with piracy in one stroke. Palladium is a trojan horse of pretty bells, whistles, and features, but like everything else M$ proposes, it's all about M$ interests first.
Beware M$ G[r]eeks(tm) bearing gifts...
If they don't do this and linux begins to be the flavour of choice, the chinese won't fall into the trap.
Liberty.
I'll bite.
/. recently added:
You obviously don't know anything about Linux.
From GCN:
"BALLMER: Linux is not dominant in the market, but we get paid to focus in on competitive threats, and it's a really competitive threat."
He goes on about this. There was a recent interview (I think on CNN, I searched quickly and couldn't find it) where he says the same thing -- Linux is a high priority concern for MS.
A poster on
"I work for an SI company. A large one. With a huge degree of MS-related
work. The MS reps tell *us* that they can commit MS resources (i.e.
spend MS money) to help us win projects IF Linux or Apache are involved.
We're talking about people's time at many thousands of dollars per day.
However much we need. They won't do it for almost any other project...
So I'd say yes, they see it as a threat."
Linux is not a joke on the desktop. You obviously haven't tried it recently. Red Hat Linux 7.x is just as easy to install as Windows, and comes with almost all you need. A quick, guided installation of Ximian GNOME and you're set, IMO. I find it's easier to use than Windows. And don't give me anything about a learning curve -- Windows has a learning curve as well.
" Face it, Linux is such a joke on the desktop that it is hardly important enough to consider when making major business decisions in a profitable corporation."
Well, let's see:
Disney isn't profitable?
Hollywood graphics rendering companies aren't profitable?
Merril Lynch isn't profitable?
HP?
DELL?
IBM?
Why are 27% of servers shipped today shipped with Linux?
Here's a website you might find interesting with a loooong list of companies invested in Linux.
Everyone makes mistakes, but you're just blatantly arrogant and ignorant. Please do some research before posting extremely retarded comments.
~Dalcius
Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
Now I see that I have been right all along!! I'm not really pirating MS software, I'm helping MS to maintain their dominant user-base! What's good for me is good for Microsoft!!
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
Microsoft has to be realizing that it's better to let rampant piracy of their products continue
I'm amused by what must be the Chinese mentality: Share and redistribute Western OS software legally through the GPL, or illegally through piracy? Whatever, the government won't do anything anyways.
I mean, what's the point of MS giving them oodles of free software, when they'd copy it for free anyways? It's not like there's even a guilty conscience in their culture about it.
This leads to situations where companies that are actually making money in China (precious few) can't repatriate the earnings to the mother ship -- they have to invest it in the local economy, or stick it in the stock-market casinos.
there is no thing
what else could you want?
Just how much do you think the Chinese Government actually trusts Microsoft Software?
Perhaps they think MS is going in the the CIA to spy on them.
Or perhaps they want to use MS software for content controll and to spy on their own people.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
What /.'ers are missing here is that china is an internally repressive society so palladium is great for them. They are constantly seeking ways to control what their people do and don't see on the net, this is also MS's point of view. They are both into controlling everything.
Also remember Mao's statement, to paraphrase "all power comes from the end of a gun". China may believe that in the end they can use MS's technology and later control them.
Don't forget how brutal and ruthless china can be. They execute more people than any other country and have a terrible human rights record. MS is simply ruthless. Linux may be more Socialistic than Windows, but remember this is also about power.
It also seems the agreement is probably like this: "You Chinese guys will take this money, and you won't actually have to do anything except let us set up some 'training' facilities and 'software colleges' to indoctrinate your people on the importance of our^H^H^Hintellectual property rights."
Of course that guide fails to touch on the it's/its issue, or on any use as a possesive at all.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Why's this show (Score:-1) when it's scored at 2 on my slashdot page? Hell, if you click to reply to it, it show a 2 there, also.
Editorial modification or just a glitch? This seems to occur to my controversial comments with reasonable frequency, so I'm betting on the former. I don't really have a problem with that - I'm not paying for any of this - I just find it odd that it's being done so covertly (if indeed it is).
Sorry, had to say it...
China: Beware of geeks bearing gifts.
Any sufficiently advanced influence is indistinguishable from control.
I don't think Bush is in Bill's pocket simply because:
Texans hate MS. *snicker* (Yes, I'm from TX).
I mean, why else would Wal-Mart (Read: Hick Super-Store) think cheap computers with Lindows would sell?
=P
~Dalcius
Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
Why don't they just give in already and call it Mao-crosoft?
It's usually ok with the US Govt for US corporations to bribe officials of foreign governments. Despite the official line from any government that they are above that sort of thing, you'll know what's up if China suddenly proclaims Linux as evil.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
For only $500 USD, or ten years salary, you too can own your very own licensed copy of Red Windows!
... you can pay $0 and have Red Linux.
...
Or
Hmmm, basic economics says
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
He could trigger a revolution! :-)
This is what they did as a test run in Mexico. They know these countries are poor and by throwing a few million bills at them, they sucker them into the Microsoft Windows upgrade cycle. Linux can only offer reliable, secure, and inexpensive software while Microsoft just plain pays them to use Windows.
;)
Wasn't it Microsoft who paid $5billion for AT&T to used MS-WinCE on a few hundred thousand set-top boxes? And then they couldn't provide the backend software to run it so AT&T walked away with $5billion.
When you have $40+billion in monopoly money and billions still streaming in, you can start paying people to use your product when you know they will not be able to move off it in the future.
Ask any drug dealer how this works......They'll tell you it a sure thing.
I hope China asked for cash too.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
750 million on China, 1 billion on the XBox, 2 billion on XBox live...its all peanuts.
2. Willpower is required to lose weight.
3. Fat people cannot lose weight.
The only known exceptions involve involuntary starvation or meth.
So pray for famine or start a drug habit and talk to me again.
Why is Triangle Man so MEAN?
Is really a Cat. they skin em and hang em out to dry , hmm..... just like MS competitors.. coincedence, or new fur coat with a side of Sweet and Sour ??
Palladium is another, but pure FUD. That type of technology isn't hack proof (dongles anyone), and won't catch on. Nothing that is hooked into a network is ever going to be 100% safe, just deal with it.
MS has NO choice but to scale back and realize the gravy train is over. They are going to have to become a real software company now, and work/listen to their customers wants/needs.
I kinda doubt Communist China will really be into Microsoft, they may take the offer, but I seriously doubt they will take any Microsoft demands seriously or convert to Microsoft totally. Microsoft is simply too much a gleaming example of capitalism and indivuality, the antithesis of what China wants. Linux if anything stands for community and socialism. Hell it wasn't until the last couple years that the Chinese kept indivual basketball player stats, and if a player out performed his team mates he was publically ridiculed for it. I doubt they will have a longterm relationship with anything Microsoft.
Wow. If you are going to use racially oriented phonetic speech, at least get it right.
Fucking round-eyes.
The reality is with Windows in China, the cost of buying a boxed version of Windows is probabally about a month's wages for the average person and a whole lot of money for the average business. You then have to take into account the cost of office and other applications.
This is the reason that Microsoft can throw what money it wants at China, in the end the average chinese person won't be able, nor will they be willing to pay the prices that Microsoft will require in USD.
If these additional monetary sweetners from Microsoft to the Chinese government cause them to crack down more on counterfiet Microsoft software then all it is going to do is force people and businesses to look for alternatives, probabally Linux and the like.
This is very funny for anybody who knows how the linux china market works.
Before you start, you have to understand that there are a number of Linux Distribution companies in China, most of the started small and rode the tech bubble there, raising capital on the hope of following companies like Redhat etc.
The difference in china is that prior to getting listed, they had to be 'blessed' by the powers that be - The communist goverment. - due to rampant quasi corruption, this usually means that if the cardres that added their blessing usualy buy in personally - and stay in (due to the chinese habit of sticking with the family).
What this means is that all the major Linux companies have very prominant central party members on their board. - imagine George Bush's son on the board of Redhat. - with no accountability stuff..
Basically the top guys are so tightly into the idea they can make money from their connections using linux, that microsoft is fighting a battle that it lost a few years ago...
Taking PHP to the next level: phpmole, php codedoc, php-gtk pear installer, DataObjects for php, ldap schema viewer and
First, you present evidence based upon what someone (with near-zero credibility, because, let's face it, anonymity on the Internet is a license to lie) said in a post on Slashdot. Then you proceed to present your personal opinion as someone who is clearly a technical user.
Neither of these is an even remotely persuasive source. You are just spewing your own personal opinion with it's own slanted language (your sarcastic tone in listing companies, for instance) and passing it off as objective information.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, none of those companies that you listed either:
- Use Linux as a major component in their business strategy (in the case of the OEMs you mentioned). Contrast them with "Linux" companies such as RedHat, who recently posted a loss numbering in the millions, or VA Software, whose stock performance pretty much speaks for itself. Or any number of now-bankrupt companies, like Lineo.
- Force Linux onto the desktops of non-technical users (who consist of the vast majority of computer users). Animators and such do not fit in the catagory of "non-technical user" because most of them went to expensive schools for several years to learn the software platform that they work with every day.
In short, you totally missed the thrust of my post and generally made an ass out of yourself and Linux. Please don't disparage the real achievements of the Linux developers by making stupid arguements about things it clearly wasn't intended for.As an aside, did you ever recieve an education outside of CS? Your ability to make an argument is laughable.
"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots." - George Bush
I have known many people in China who operates Net Cafes. For them and for most people in China, computer means two things, games and chatting. They all run Windows machines. Of course, they don't have licenses because a windows license is way too expensive for an average person in China.
Wow. You are so goddamned cool.
Get back to me when you can speak Chinese without an accent.
And it's the Japanese that have no phonetic distinctions between l's and r's.
Fag.
What, they're listening to what I want?
Does that mean software will be free legally???
Great.
:wq (Because Vi is better)
According to this story on gamespot.com, that's the exact same amount they're losing on the X-Box this year. Apologies if someone else already pointed this out, but seemed like an interesting coinceidence (draw your own piracy related conclusions).
Humm, last I heard M$ was selling their operating system, now they're paying money for China to use it?
So... the way I figure it, Microsoft should owe the school I go to at least $100,000 for making us use their software...
Question everything that you've accepted without thinking.
I used to think that World War III would start in the Middle East, but now I know better. The Chinese will think all the Microsoft bugs and security loopholes are a cyber-attack from the United States, when it's really just the products behaving as designed.
I'll bet it's just Microsoft "funny money", the same stuff they use to make settlement offers to the states.
Sure, they'll donate $750M worth of their products into a market that mostly pirates the stuff anyway. The actual cost to Microsoft should be maybe 1% of $750M. The bottom line is that widespread piracy of M$ products isn't enough to stop Linux. All those years of whining about piracy and now the problem is that pirates aren't working fast enough!
And to the mod who moderated it as flamebait... LOL.
You know it's true. People like you just suck. Admit it.
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
When the article quotes Steve Ballmer as "What's good for the local industry in every country is good for Microsoft" the author must have got it backwards. What Steve Ballmer REALLY said is "What's good for Microsoft is good for the local industry in every country."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
WHY THE HELL the US has NOT YET placed blocks against US companies selling technology to commie countries?
.
Ugh. This is getting annoying.
::insert standard line about MS software being so insecure that it is a good thing the commies will be running it::
I [i]so[/i] hope that the CIA/NSA/Whatever are behind this and shoving security holes in all the pertinent software sold to the commies, maybe then for once they would actually be doing their [i]job[/i] instead of working on spying on us the U.S. people. . .
Annoying.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
What are you talking about man?
You think that Microsoft will invest $750mi in a Rich country that was already dominated?! Why will they do that? It ins't a capitalism thing be evil? So why be good?
That's right, Bill has finagled China into accepting green paper with his face on it!
Redeemable for all sorts of quality MS video games.
Isn't this just a standard Microsoft practice anyway? When was the last time Microsoft or the BSA actually cracked down on home networks which had 5 copies of windows all using the same serial??? The cash cow for Microsoft is in getting government compliance... tax the government... hrmmm....
Does it go on forever?
Efficiency, privacy and security proven in Communist China.
Marks, Mao, Gates, heros of the revolution.
Useful where free press is forbiden.
Making our enimies less productive every day.
Perfered by colective oligarchies 10 to 1.
You don't want to know what happens when you violate the EULA.
BSA, PRC, we taught them everything they know.
People who can only have one child won't mind the copy protection at all.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Getting a nation which is -- considering the number of people in it -- very poor...to pay $100 for each copy of windows (ok, maybe its $10 per copy on a volume deal). Dream on.
Same thing with Russia.
Ditto with India.
Sure, they'll pirate your software -- that's free. But why pay for it?
The fact is that Linux is the future in Russia, China, and India. Heck, because these government's don't have to worry about BSA lawsuites or pay expensive licensing fees, Linux might even rejuvinate their starved economies.
Government's around the world are starting to realize that Linux is -- in every way important -- superior to MS. The deficiencies in Linux (read, GUI, Xfree, anti-aliasing, [minor] hardware recognition [moderate]) can easily be fixed using the kind of money the government throws around.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
Computers, software, monopoilstic tactics, and technology asside, MS handles its business quite strangely. Specificly they issue very, very small dividends to its shareholders. BillG and friends would rather MS keep the cash then give it out to the other owners. If what you say is true and they have a history of large, apparently stupid, expensive projects, prehaps its possible the the BOD of MS would rather piss away there money then pay taxes or pay out dividends.
hmm....
The online edition of China's publicly-owned newspaper, the People's Daily, has this artical: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200206/28/eng200 20628_98699.shtml
Hear it from the dragon's mouth.
Property is theft.
in which MS can dump $750M. That would use up their cash mountain wouldn't it?
no, chinese have their difficulties with r's too.
Consider the fact that China is the largest country in the world.
Now try to see that internet is the big antidote against propoganda.
Internet in China is unstoppable, and we will probably see a revolution in less than 10 years there. If such a large country starts participating in the industry with opensource software, it could tupple the balance for Microsoft. The Empire isn't stupid, they just can't make software.
This is a replacement signature.
-
Playing with Linux RAID
-
The physical layout of the ext2 filesystem
I think with IBM investing in the Chinese Linux market, to the point of funding the education of Chinese kernel programmers by publishing articles like the ones Zhaoway is writing, we don't have much to worry from Microsoft.Also, the Open Source Development Lab's Japan Development Center was kind enough to recently translate a couple of my Linux kernel testing articles into Japanese:
- Why We Should All Test the New Linux Kernel
-
Japanese -
English
- Using Test Suites to Validate the Linux Kernel
-
Japanese
-
English
These and the other articles at the Linux Quality Database are all so far published under the GNU Free Documentation License. I was quite excited when the OSDL first mirrored the original english versions and then provided the Japanese translations.I would personally be quite stoked if anyone translated any of the articles to other languages. There is also an article on web server application testing as well as one on C++ programming. I have more planned and invite others to contribute articles that have the general aim of improving the quality of Free Software.
-- Could you use my software consulting serv
A concern I have is that Microsoft may expose Chinese students to their "shared source initiative", which could poison their ability to contribute to Free Software.
But I found this paragraph especially intriguing:
I know I would be very interested to read an English translation of Mr. Fang's book, as would many in the West! Maybe Red Hat could sponsor a translation?-- Could you use my software consulting serv
Maybe if the people in Microsoft's own country had more faith in them this 750$mil would be staying IN THE COUNTRY instead of leaving for COMMUNIST CHINA.
Wonder what proportion of this money came from outside the US anyway. Maybe Microsoft are simply returning money which came from China in the first place.
it was a joke.
I never thought someone would actually take it serious. Next time I'll include a very big smiley.
European Linux user, living in Antwerp
You know, if enough ./'ers raise a big stink about M$ not enforcing China's "sharing," while going after all those poor inner city kid's schools who are out of license compliance.... Hmmm.
Even Microsoft had to change their advertising in the trade rags, from "doesn't crash" to "crashes 50% less than Windows 98"