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Lessig's Challenge: Are You Up To It?
Eloquence writes "At the 2002 Open Source Conference, law professor and cyberactivist Larry Lessig, last prominently featured here because of the Eldred case, asked some poignant questions: 'How many people have given to [the] EFF more money than they have given to their local telecom to give them shitty DSL service? How many people have given more money to [the] EFF than they give each year to support the monopoly--to support the other side?' Luke Francl has interpreted these questions as a challenge, and decided to chronicle both his donations to good causes and his less voluntary payments to 'the media oligarchy' on this page: Lessig's Challenge. This is a good idea if others imitate it: If these pages become interlinked with each other, not only can they motivate us and let us track our progress, they may also help us to keep each other up to date about 'good causes' -- there's more than the EFF, after all. With Harry Potter in theatres and Lord of the Rings before us, should 'nerds' also be thinking about supporting those who fight for our rights to, say, play DVDs on an open-source OS?"
Why is it always about "destroying microsoft" and whatnot. Why can't open source users just come up with a better product that people will want to use, or come to understanding that, at the current time, windows is better than linux on the desktop, and realize that every OS has it's place. It's not all about total world domination for OSS.
Last time I gave MS money, it was for Windows 3.0 boxed with the old MS mouse. All on 1.2MB 5.25" floppy disks.
That was the beginning of the realization of what pure hatred is.
Since then, I have not purchased any MS hardware, software, services, books or certifications (which are a complete farce anyway, the best IT people I've known (stock exchange WAN designers/admins, top military engineers and government science research labs), never needed or gained any knowledge through getting MS certified).
Microsoft products and revenue channels are for joe six-pack. If you disagree with this, YOU ARE joe six-pack.
As an ex military tech, I am disgusted that a Navy ship was put in a position so that it could be disabled, dead in the water, by a single instance of a Microsoft product.
This is NOT the Navy I knew. The "don't fix what aint broke", redundancy, redundancy, redundancy entity that was typically 20 years ahead (technologically) of the "real world" only in areas that mattered and practical where practicality mattered.