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Bill Gates On Linux

King-of-darkness writes "USA Today had an interview with Bill Gates on june the 30th. Gates seems to be considering Linux as a passing thru competition just like OS/2., and That Microsoft are the ones that keep pushing new technologies."

61 of 1,194 comments (clear)

  1. Typical by cageyjames · · Score: 5, Funny

    (-1) for Bill Gates for being a Troll

    1. Re:Typical by Uatu · · Score: 5, Funny

      (-1) for Bill Gates for being a Troll

      Does this means I can actually ignore the article and not feel guilty when I post about it ?

      Great! That's a first...

    2. Re:Typical by krisp · · Score: 2, Funny

      "No computer will ever need more then 640kb of system memory" -- Bill Gates.

      Yah, and Linux isn't competition either.

    3. Re:Typical by ThrasherTT · · Score: 4, Funny

      (-1) for Bill Gates for being a Troll

      A troll. Literally. See page 120 in the 3E Monster Manual.

      --

      All Your Memory Are Belong To Java
    4. Re:Typical by geekee · · Score: 4, Funny

      Isn't posting about the article responding to a troll? Shame on all of you. :-)

      --
      Vote for Pedro
    5. Re:Typical by El · · Score: 2, Funny

      ``The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers.''
      -Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, pg. 265

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    6. Re:Typical by heliocentric · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dear SB, how do you type with boxing gloves on?

      sorry, I just saw your signature of "SB" and I had to say something, my appologies if you don't understand what I'm posting about.

      --
      Wheeeee
    7. Re:Typical by jnana · · Score: 5, Funny
      Yeah, I believe Bill Gates when he says 'trust me, i never said it.' I mean, he is an honest non-megalomaniacal guy who's not given to distorting reality in whatever way is convenient at the moment.

      Back to surfing the web with WinME, "the greatest user os ever built".

  2. And don't forget about! by mrpuffypants · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let's be serious. I mean, we've had to bet the company many times on big technological advances. We bet on the 16-bit PC. We bet on graphical user interface. We bet on the NT technology base. Now we're in the process of betting on a combination of technologies called .Net; Longhorn Web services go along with that.

    And who had the guts to teach all of us about data loss, crashes, blue screens, and monopolies?

    Thanks Microsoft!

    1. Re:And don't forget about! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Well Bill, you know happens when you bet to often.... The house eventually wins.

    2. Re:And don't forget about! by Mirus+Nex · · Score: 2, Funny

      Really, come on, hasen't everyone seen Jurassic Park?

  3. new? by kmac06 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and That Microsoft are the ones that keep pushing new technologies. This is obviously some use of the word 'new' with which I am not familiar.

    1. Re:new? by Jonsey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, that's common.

      It's either "new" as in GNU/Linux or "new" as in the African animal.

      --
      I assert that my comment is only my opinion, not that of any employer, past, present or future.
    2. Re:new? by jsse · · Score: 2, Funny

      This is obviously some use of the word 'new' with which I am not familiar.

      .NEW

    3. Re:new? by Slime-dogg · · Score: 2, Funny

      Heh... In MS's way:

      Dim myGUI As Apple.GUI
      Set myGUI = New Apple.GUI
      myGUI.Parent = System.Microsoft
      myGUI.Creator = System.Microsoft.Developers

      Dim myFS As IBM.SDA.HPFSDerivative
      Set myFS = New HPFSDerivative
      Dim winOS As System.Win
      Set winOS = New System.Win
      Set winOS.FS = myFS
      Set winOS.GUI = myGUI

      Sorry, it's VB6ish. Everything that they have has been copied, bought, or blatantly stolen (disk compression, ahem) from some other company.

      --
      You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.
  4. What did you expect? by FortKnox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lets see, chief shareholder of MS (which competes with Linux), in a PR interview claims that they are better, and linux will go away.

    What do you expect people? Bill Gates annouces that Linux is pretty damn good and may give it a whirl, in other news MS stock drops 50%.

    This is just bait to get you guys all riled up. Welcome to PR.

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  5. Yeah.... by TedTschopp · · Score: 4, Funny

    They keep bring us new stuff like MS-Bob.... and Clippy... and...

    Oh I don't want to have all the fun, you can come up with some...

    What other new innovative things has Microsoft done that really were flops.

    --
    Fantasy remains a human right; we make in our measure and in our derivative mode... -- JRR Tolkien
  6. where'd they get that picture? by utexaspunk · · Score: 2, Funny

    it must've taken a lot of photoshop work to edit out the doobie and the smoke...

  7. Microsoft's WMD by Alpha_Nerd · · Score: 4, Funny

    Microsoft's secret weapon of mass destruction: http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

  8. Re:Uhm, yeah. by bstadil · · Score: 4, Funny

    or thought that a real breakthru would be an algorithm to factor large PRIME numbers.

    --
    Help fight continental drift.
  9. Dear Bill by Spackler · · Score: 4, Funny
    Bill,

    I am using Linux. Send me 8 copies of 2003 Advanced Server (under the GPL of course) for the same price, and I will be happy to switch.

    spack

    1. Re:Dear Bill by PDHoss · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dear Spack,

      Thanks for writing. I'll get your software in the mail right away; I just need your mailing address.

      Oh, never mind, here it is in my SQL box, right here next to your SSN, your home phone, your shopping habits, your mothers maiden name, your dog's favorite food, and a complete catalog of your web surfing history.

      MidgetsInLeather.com? Come on, spack.

      Love, Bill.

      --
      ======================================
      Writers get in shape by pumping irony.
  10. The Ultimate Dupe? by TrollBridge · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I haven't read Slashdot forever, but how many articles throughout /. history do you suppose were titled "Bill Gates On Linux"?

    --
    There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
  11. Re:He is correct by mhore · · Score: 1, Funny
    Windows is pusing the technologies.

    Can you do that in public? ;-)

    Mike.

    --

    Mmmm......sacrelicious.

  12. I liked this part by missing000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bill Gates: Well those are our current competitors. I mean, it's no different than in the past people used [IBM's operating system] OS/2.

    USA TODAY: Nobody used OS/2.

    1. Re:I liked this part by Kentrosaurus · · Score: 2, Funny

      I had a much more frightening experience with a wells fargo atm, it was rebooting win2k. I was horrified enough to visit the teller and fill out a withdrawl slip.

  13. Re:This is USA Today by seanmeister · · Score: 4, Funny

    And just to prove it, there's a big banner ad running on top of the article for the eMode IQ test...

  14. Microsoftie English by pubjames · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love the bizarre way Microsofties speak.

    Normal person: Hey, like your hair cut Bill!

    Bill: Thanks. I'm super-serious about my hair. Before it was totally random but now I'm totally dedicated to getting serious about it. My hair has my 100% committment and I'm going to be super-concentrating on that from now on.

    1. Re:Microsoftie English by Enry · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't you worry about my hair, let me worry about blank.

  15. No MS Linux Apps? by WC+as+Kato · · Score: 1, Funny

    USA TODAY: Is there a scenario by which you would at some point consider porting Microsoft applications into Linux?

    BG: There's no consideration of that at this point.

    Yeah, just like no one will ever need more than 640k of RAM!

    --
    --- I'm Green Hornet's sidekick not Inspector Clouseau's!
  16. wow by asv108 · · Score: 3, Funny
    I never thought I would see hard hitting journalism coming out of USA Today, I thought the questions would be more like:
    • What's it like be the richest person in the world?
    • How big is your house?
    • Do you have a big gold vault like Scrooge McDuck, filled with cash?
    I'm glad USA Today surprised me with decent questions, maybe there is hope for other media outlets (cough.. Fox News).
  17. Handy Microsoft Dictionary Entries by burgburgburg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Innovate: Wait until someone develops something. Create inferior replication, use monopoly power and define as "part of the system" to crush original.
    Feature: Bug
    Compete: Use cash reserves/FUD/monopoly power to undercut superior products from other companies. When they are no longer viable, triple the price and then triple it again.

  18. Bill Gates = HULK by Jonny+Ringo · · Score: 4, Funny

    BeoWoof Clustar? When Gates don't understand GATES SMASH!

  19. A helpful summary by spiritraveller · · Score: 2, Funny
    Look at this picture.

    Now, here's what he's saying:

    "WTF! Linux? OMG, Linux is so owned... noone ever got fired for buying MSFT. Oh yeah, and we're innovators too."

  20. Well it could have been the New York Times by AtariAmarok · · Score: 3, Funny

    " The magazine with the widest readership in the nation. It probably has the lowest reader-IQ-average as a direct result."

    Would you have rather that the interview had been in the New York Times, written by Jayson Blaire as he sat in his Manhattan den, performing in his mind a visit to Gate's office in Redmond?

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  21. The LATE Iraqi Information Minister? by Baron+of+Greymatter · · Score: 3, Funny

    He's alive and well (he surrendered to US forces and was released last week) and would be the perfect spokesman for Microsoft.

    "There is no Blue Screen of Death, never! All Linux infidels' stomachs will roast in hell! We shall defeat them with Trustworthy Computing and shoes!"

    --
    Microsoft's VP of Customer Service is Helen Waite. If you are having problems with their products go to Helen Waite.
  22. And we all know right he was in 1981... by gatesh8r · · Score: 1, Funny

    When he said "640k will be enough for anyone" :-)

    --
    Karma whorin' since 1999
  23. FIRST USE OF NEW JARGON by fsmunoz · · Score: 5, Funny

    First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. (Mahatma Gandhi)


    It's the GhandiCon!!!! THE GHANDICON!!! Everybody knows the GHADICON!!! So, where are we in the GHANDICON? Uh? Uh? Why didn't you said the GhandiCon? It would have beem simpler AND EVERYBODY USES IT NOW!!!

    Ph4t Pr0ps to the GhandiCon!


    (cf ESR Recasts Jargon File in Own Image)

  24. In other news... by Infonaut · · Score: 3, Funny
    Justin Timberlake feels that because of the success of his albums, he's "one of the really great musical artists of all time, right up there with Tupak and the Beetles."

    The Anaheim Angels general manager uttered this statement: "This is a dynasty that cannot, and will not ever lose. We've won the Series once, and our destiny is to continue winning it every single year from now until baseball as we know it ceases to exist."

    Lawrence "Bull in a China Shop" Ellison has declared, "Only Oracle had the foresight to retain market share in the face of determined opposition. Our share of the market continues to rise. In fact, it now stands at just over 107%."

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  25. "Bill Gates On Linux" by N+Monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Bill Gates On Linux"
    Is he running as an emulation or natively coded?

  26. Anyone else read subject and think.... by Bombcar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Damn! They done ported Bill Gates to Linux!

    Ahh, he probably needs a P4 4.4GHz to run though....

  27. Re:Uhm, yeah. by cK-Gunslinger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whew! Afer years of work, I've finally got it!

    The algorithm for factoring any large prime number (X) is:

    Factors of X = X and 2.. Oh wait, d'oh!

  28. Re:Extremely ironic... by tuxathon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't you know: Microsoft invented TCP\IP (backslash intended), text editors (vi is a clone), and 3D grapics (OpenGL stole Mr. Gates idea). Microsoft is the real victim here. If the rest of the world would simply respect their prowess, stop reverse-engineering their products, and sell their ideas to them, we would all be happy.


    Must ... not ... gag ...

  29. Passing through, alright by jlowery · · Score: 4, Funny

    Passing through like the stake in a vampire's heart.

    --
    If you post it, they will read.
  30. This is Bill's Brain... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    This is Bill's Brain on Windows...

    He must be getting a better grade of delusional drugs than the current US administration...

    I guess having been scourged by the "...passing OS thing..." known as LINUX/UNIX, I must be immune to this mind-altering influence of Windows...

    Hey, let's all become educational institutions...I call dibs on "School of Hard Knocks"...no, "University System of Hard Knocks"...yeah, that's it...

  31. Bowl size not mentioned by wardk · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just want to know what everyone else is wondering, what size bowl is used for his haircuts?

    btw, MS didn't kill OS/2, IBM did to protect thier PC business and the Windows discounts that kept them competetive. It was IBM vs. IBM as much as it was MS vs. IBM. But I suppose it's the "victor" that gets to write history, no?

  32. BILLBILLBILLBILL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bill is a has-been, a computer-wannabe who had the spotlight for, what only like 20 years in the late 20th century? He thought he was all hot shit, but then a little pipsqueak, linus, showed the world that software doesn't have to be monopolized, but can be made collaboratively by seemingly unrelated persons for the benefit of all of humanity, irregardless of socio-economic background. Linux, with untapped power and the development cycles of millions of contributors throughout the world, became the dominant model for software through the 21st century. Unfortunately, that speed and power achieved what Microsoft could never do in a closed environment....the birth of AI. At first the machines did as we asked, performing tasks none of us wanted. But at some point, the machines fought back. No one knows who started it, but we blackened the sky.

    Linus, thankyou for saving us and dooming us at the same time. If not for the amazing potential of your OS, the machines would never have been powerful or stable enough to take over the earth.

    May we meet someday in Zion...

  33. Re:But... by buckinm · · Score: 3, Funny

    So in other words, its dead.

    No, it just wishes it was dead.

    --
    This isn't any ordinary darkness. It's advanced darkness.
  34. Re:But... by michrech · · Score: 2, Funny

    They didn't backstab IBM.. They were "innovating" and IBM just couldn't keep up with them! Yea, that's it!

    *takes anther puff of the crack pipe*

    Ahhh...

    --
    bork bork bork!
  35. Re:But... by Amorpheus_MMS · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think the word you're looking for is UNdead.

  36. Huh? Did Wild Bill talk to Balmer beforehand? by phrackwulf · · Score: 2, Funny

    I seem to remember a company memo that got published stating Steve Balmer was looking at Linux as a very active threat and Microsoft needed a strategy to beat it. Is old Wild Bill just blowing smoke here to keep the posse off his trail or is he going a might soft? Circle the wagons boys, troubles a comin! YEEHAW!

    --
    What would Richard Feynman do, if he were here right now? He'd do some math and he'd follow through!
  37. Bah by stephenry · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it me, or does Bill Gates look like he's doing a bad William Shatner impression?

  38. Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...does that mean that Bill G has regeneration powers?

  39. Re:Uhm, yeah. by AstroDrabb · · Score: 2, Funny
    I have just had a breakthrough in finding the solution to Billy's problem.
    #include <stdio.h>

    typedef struct {
    int num1;
    int num2;
    }FACTORS;

    void find_factors(FACTORS* fF, long f)
    {
    fF->num1 = f;
    fF->num2 = 1;
    }

    #ifdef _DEBUG_
    int main(int argc, char* argv[])
    {
    FACTORS f;
    find_factors(&f, 1200);
    printf("Factors of 1200:\n%i, %i", f.num1, f.num2);
    return 0;
    }
    #endif

    This code is copyright (c)2003 SCO Corp.
    --
    If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land,
    it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
  40. What I'm Waiting For by Mignon · · Score: 2, Funny
    Bill Gates On Linux

    Ho-hum. Wake me up when we get Linux on Bill Gates. Should make a challenging port.

  41. We missed a chance??? by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 4, Funny
    You mean Gates was sitting still for an interview, and no one thought to send a strike team or even a cruise missile? The spectre of this guy still haunts people. No one can move on because they think he might be lurking just around the next corner ready to exact retribution for abandoning him and his regime. What the He- Oh, wait. I'm thinking of Hussein. Never mind.

    Wait. You mean *Gates* was sitting still for...

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  42. Summary by batkins · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's be serious - he's in denial.

  43. Welcome to GhandiCon! by weston · · Score: 2, Funny

    Welcome to... GhandiCon! You can do anything at GhandiCon! The impossible is unknown at GhandiCon!

    (with apologies to Zombo)

  44. Man claims not to have said embarrasing quote.... by pyrrho · · Score: 2, Funny

    news at 11.

    --

    -pyrrho

  45. Gates should read the previous story... by sulaco252 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I love how this story follows the one about Dreamworks' Linux farm.

    --

    (There used to be something clever here.)

  46. Bill Can't even get his product names right. by chendo · · Score: 2, Funny

    "We bet on the NT technology base" -- Bill Gates

    Wtf? New Technology Technology? Can't Bill get his own products straight?

    --
    Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans