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XBOX Media Player 2.0
smashr writes "If you can't afford the new Windows XP Media Center edition, why not grab yourself a modded XBOX, and check out the XBOX Media Player 2.0. The official site has some screen shots and previews. I am sure Gates will be real upset about this one. Somehow $300 for an x-box setup is cheaper than the $2000 XP boxes."
While a modded XBOX seems like a cool inexpensive PC, I feel that it's more trouble than it's worth.
If Billy G. does not want you to mod his XBOX, he will continually roll out new schemes and plans to try and foil you. Sounds like just a big pain to me. For the same money, you could go buy one of those Walmart/Lindows PC's and load a copy of Mandrake or Redhat on it to achieve a low cost useful PC.
Just my 2 cents.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
I am sure Gates will be real upset about this one.
I understand that because this is Slashdot, we all feel a need to assume the worst about Bill. However, this program has been out for over six months, and not a single word has come from Microsoft.
For an article about an earlier release of XBMP, check here.
Why? The more they sell, the more they produce, they cheaper they produce 'em, and the closer they get to turning a profit on every piece of hardware.
The more consoles they can show sold, the more they can entice developers, and the more software they can make a royalty on.
Media Player or Linux or no, 99.9% of xbox owners eventually want to buy or rent a game.
If you really want to screw Gates, build yourself a 300$ PC, and quit it with this "I'm stickin it to the man" crap.
BTW, Xbox media player is developed illegally with the leaked XBOX SDK from MicroSoft. Thanks for the warez tip, though. Any idea when Doom III final going to hit my local fserves?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Except for the fact that they probably put a good deal of work into modifying Windows XP for HP and whoever else is going to sell them. With that logic, Gates could care less if PC sales took a huge nosedive because he's not the one selling them.
There is a book by Ira Levin called 'this perfect day', it has a nice little bit in it where rebellious people are given a fake rebellion to reduce the chance of them actually pulling off a real one.
Slashdot is a little like that, imagine if all these people venting their frustration at the big bad MS would take it out on them instead of having this convenient safety valve right here.
MP3 Search Engine
>> Wake up. Stop being blinded by your hate for MS.
I'm impressed that Microsoft found a way to turn that hatred into cold, hard cash.
People actually believe they're "screwing" Microsoft when they buy their products, be it a modded xbox, or formatting the hard drive on their Dell to install linux.
Of all the business tactics they've ever used - I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with this one.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
not true.
Look at it this way. The GPL is not *forced* upon you. You do not have to accept it; you don't click through, you don't sign anything, and it's not an EULA.
What it IS is a set of terms under which you can do things other than what standard copyright allows. If you don't accept the GPL, you are bound by standard copyright law; no more, no less.
If I use code available under the GPL in my softeware, the GPL is ONE option I can choose to accept to allow me to distribute/modify the code in my own work. I can also choose to contact the authors and negotiate another license. Or I can choose to NOT use any license, and hope I don't get sued by the copyright holders for copyright violation.
My point is that the GPL is not something you are forced into; it's something you can choose to use in order to avoid legal problems.
If you distribute some work that happens to be available under the GPL without accepting the terms of the GPL, you are guilty of copyright violation; you cannot be forced to release source, though you can be forced to stop distributing, and punitive damages, and releasing source will probably be one legal remedy for you (comply with a license that was offered so you don't get sued)