Slashdot Mirror
Google Considering Merger With Microsoft
buford_tannen writes "According to this New York Times Article (registration, etc.), Google may be considering a merger with Microsoft in the near future. As many people know, Google's search services are powered by Linux. "
Um, isn't it still about 5 months until April 1st?
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
So now all our searches will be controlled by the borg?
You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
The Ledger (NY Times business section) - Microsoft and Google: Partners or Rivals?
'Microsoft - desperate to capture a slice of the popular and ad-generating search business - approached Google within the last two months to discuss options, including the possibility of a takeover.'
Financial Times (business section) - Google approached by Microsoft for takeover
'The approach "gained little traction" , according to the report, with Google indicating that it preferred to pursue an initial public offering.'
CNN Money - Microsoft courting Google
'Microsoft may still be interested in pursuing the Web search company at a later date' (The page title is 'Mr. Softee Courting Google' despite the article heading.)
It appears that Microsoft is trying to threaten Google with "If you don't merge with us, we'll make MSN search built into Longhorn, and everybody will use it instead of you because they won't know any better." To Google's credit, they think they can do a better job, find new and interesting areas to innovate, and generally tell Microsoft to suck it. The real question remains: Will Google be as good once they are a public company?
This seems like a kick in the teeth to the yay google opensource crown
Hey, it's Halloween, Not April Fools.
Exhibit 23000 why Microsoft is such a smart company and why they are at the top of the tech world.
[cough]bullshit[/cough]
This is terrible news! :(
I love my google the way it is now, with no connection to Microsoft
Right now, despite the Scientology dust up, I, for the most part, trust Google's results. And I admire the way there ad system works.
I doubt I could trust the results if Microsoft ran the show.
...and I thought MS only had users by the balls.
FLR
MoogleSoft?
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Mother God, make them stop!!!
Weren't recently trying to out-Google Google?
SEARCH: Linux
Sorry, no results found! Did you mean "WINDOWS"?
SEARCH: Anti-trust
Sorry, no results found! Did you mean "CAPITALISM"?
SEARCH: Bill Gates
Sorry, no results found! Did you mean "YOUR NEW CORPORATE OVERLORD"?
Your search - Linux - did not match any documents. No pages were found containing "Linux". Suggestions: - Make sure all words are spelled correctly. - Try different keywords. - Try more general keywords. Also, you can try Google Answers for expert help with your search.
Tech News, Reviews and Tutorials
Let's get back too the ROOTS: Besides this political aspect (Google who claimed they were using Linux will only see their service's quality lower after Kro tell them to drop it for some NTXPCE2003 stuff), av.com is also much more reliable when it comes to filter requests (+url=tompox -link:mirko +toto* ...).
BTW, if you look for "end the" (qquotes included) on AV.com, you'll get the expected results.
In Google, some ""the end" will appear within the top 10 results...
Trolling using another account since 2005.
I'm hoping this is bogus, but if its not, what search engine out there offers similar power and quality? Netscape search has sucked for years now. Lycos seemed to go down hill before that even...
Nice sensationalist headline there. MS said they were interested, Google politely said no. I see no "consideration" there.
Of course, the whole point of the subject was to draw comments like this, so nice troll submitter, and nice troll to the admin who approved it.
Also seen in the headlines:
US Government considers merger with MS, Apple considers merger with MS, and GWB considers quitting presidency and working at Mickey D's.
Fun, isn't it?
Well it reminds me of the simpsons episode when homer starts and ISP and microsoft just buys them out.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
did they just wake up one day and decide, "we've been the best for a long time now, why don't we find some ways to really suck for a while?"
--Keeping the flame wars alive, one post at a time
...for a non-MS owned search engine. Based on the horrible search results and the pop-up ads I get with MSN search, I would definitely be looking at search engine alternatives. Right now, I use Google for 95% of searches I do.
The siren call of all that money is tempting. but the danger is that you end up loosing all control. I am sure there are many former dot.com founders who have interesting tales of caution along this line.
I do not want google to become another thing to be looted by a bunch of investment types or by MS.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Whew!!!! Slashdot Halloween scare story!
Microsoft JET Database Engine error '80004005' Could not find file 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\google\search.mdb'.
Microsoft possible buying Google in this week's Guardian. I think this would be a terrible thing, as Google is an excellent service, and if Microsoft got hold of it it would almost complete their monopoly on such things, completely eliminating their only real competitor.
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
Dear Google,
Dear GAWD PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! Your search engine friggin rocks and I really don't want Microshaft to screw it up as they did with Hotmail. I will give money for you not to do this. Seriously.
Yours truly,
Anonymous Coward
In Mozilla:
/etc/hosts
/etc/profile:
...
- Go to Edit --> Preferences --> Navigator
- Put www.altavista.com, www.webcrawler.com, www.yahoo.com (ah no, that's powered by google) in "Home Page"
- Edit your bookmark and remove similar google.com links as search engines.
Or even better, system-wise:
- Edit
- Insert the following lines in it:
www.google.com 127.0.0.1
Additionally, you can add that in
alias ping="ping -f www.google.com"
Hope this helps. Mind you, I suspect this story is a huge troll. But then again, knowing google, maybe not
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
now with new client licenses.
More bandwidth, processing power, and resources. I hope this goes through ASAP.
I hate to disagree, but ff Microsoft were to buy Google and start running it, wouldn't it go through ASP?
the humanity!
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
Thankfully, according to the article Google has decided to NOT sell out to Microsoft.
"While the overture appears to have gained little traction - Google indicated that it preferred the initial offering route, the executives said"
However they indicated it could happen in the future -
"Though seemingly spurned, Microsoft may still be interested in pursuing Google at a later date, according to an executive briefed on the discussions"
This would be very troubling if MS did buy Google at some point. Google may have turned them away now, but one they have gone public a hostile takeover could be in the works. Heaven help us if they do - the last thing I would want to see is MS controlling the best search engine out there.
...goes public instead can't Microsoft simply begin buying shares of Google to gain "ownership" of the company? Or, worse yet, Microsoft can simply make an offer that's really a damned good offer and the shareholders of Google - who will not be as staunch on the ethical grounds of "Don't sell obnoxious ads" and "Don't do something just to do it" and "Money is nice, but not everything." - will approve the merger with Microsoft?
At least when you're a private firm these things are controlled by the vision of a few people who agree on things and a not a fractured group who are, for the most part, out to make a buck.
My reality check bounced.
Correction, were powered by Linux, Lisa, were.
hmmm... Googles of donuts... auauguuuggghhh
In that case, will Microsoft be embedding a Python interpreter into all their apps from now on? Death to .NET!
They've been trying desparately to get into this market for quite some time. It's not actually too surprising that Microsoft would be interested in teaming up with Google. Microsofts attempts at search engines just can't compare with google. If they did team up, I doubt seriously that they would make any sort of effort to convert it to a windows platform or anything.
If they do team up, I sure hope they fix that crap in IE that re-routes me to this:
"We can't find "doesnotexist.c0m"
You can try again by typing the URL in the address bar above.
Or, search the Web:
Go to MSN Search to see complete results for "doesnotexist.c0m".
A re-route to google would be far less annoying.
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
I mean, everybody knows it's better with the Butterfly...
how long until
Maybe they are scared of Microsoft? We already know MS wants to (or has) build a search engine clone of Google. Maybe google doesn't want to confront MS on this turf so they go with the age old adage, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
First: I wonder how long it will take MS to figure out how to move Google to Windows. Remember the fiasco surrounding Hotmail's move from BSD (I think) to Windows?
Second: I can see the top 5 results from a search for "Linux" now:
1. Independent study shows Windows more secure than Linux
2. How to lower TCO by switching from Linux to Windows
3. Linux for terrorists, says expert.
4. Nazis retake Germany, install Linux
5. Linux bad for innovatoin, says expert panel.
Of course, all of these links will be to "archived" versions of "authentic" articles on a MS server somewhere.
Seriously. If we can't trust the MS marketing engine to be honest about their products, how can we trust them to keep their grubby fingers out of search results?
At least we'll still have alltheweb.com.
I wonder what wonderfull features MS will add?
.NET Passport)
* Requires fully patched IE (Inc all DRM)
* Requires Win XP, 3.2Ghz Intel or better, 512Mb + , DX9 Graphics card
* Requires DRM Hardware + Active X + cookies
* Free virus execution
* Requires a Microsoft Passport (Or
* Works occasionally
* Works slower and strangly lacks a lot of linux links
DONT DO IT GOOGLE...
---- There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don't
...but they may be more interested in the coders. If they were to merge, I'm sure the people who develop google will also be handed work on Microsoft.com, maybe even new versions of Windows, IE, and Office. Bill sees the creativity and skill of Google's employees and would surely want some of that in Microsoft products.
Or perhaps Slashdot is celebrating some other holiday that involves scaring people.
Search Results for linux :
....
I really hope this doesnt happen ....
1) Guide to Migrating to Windows from UNIX and Linux
2) Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 Product Overview
3) 247804 - How to Remove Linux and Install Windows on Your Computer
"We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." -- Linus
I have never really had any problems with M$'s policy of ... "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em out" - I wish more companies made aquisitions and injected cash into their business model.
The only problem is that usually Microsoft will buy out a company then close or proprietize the format.
There are other posts here meant to be funny, saying, "Great, now they'll make only Internet Explorer compatible"
The only concern I would have here is if Apple has the Google toolbar integrated into Safari and Apple Users going to Google pages and seeing Wintel ads - maybe there would be a special portal for Apple Users.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
I consider the chances of Google selling out right up there with Slashdot selling out.
Oops. My bad.
I do hope that Google decides for the common person, but history and greed tend to rule this out.
I can see the flames now.
Won't this violate their own "Don't be evil" rule?
I was having a good day until I read this. Now I'm sick to my stomach. /me checks calendar again to make sure it's not April 1st.
Department of Homeland Security: Removing the rights real patriots fought and died for since 2001
DogPile is pretty good, and easy to remember...
www.dogpile.com
Google may go IE-exclusive, but it's chance for other search services, considering current situation of search engine services. Google is too long on its throne, and it is not so different from MS dominant desktop market, which is unusual. It's good time for alternative to rise up, though the patent on Google may prevent it somehow.
i beleive that is called a corporate take over. and it's a problem every public co. has.
"...Release your anger. Feel the power of the dark side..."
A hypothetical plan: Microsoft could simply ban the google site from internet explorer, and deny users from connecting to the google ip address. (maybe they could call it a new anti-google patch). Whats the public going to do? all switch to macs? or run linux? The average american IQ is much to low to do that. Sure there'd be screaming and bitchin, but in the end, msn search would be shoved down the throats of the public forcefully, and google would revert to a small time site for a niche market. Btw. google is doing the same thing right now by caving to RIAA demands and taking kazaa off their search list. Bitches!!
I hear the NY Post, in an attempt to compete on a traffic basis, merge with www.goatse.cx.
Breaking News!
The article says M$ approached google for purchase and were told to get lost. And slashdot says Google considering to merg with M$. Agreed you editors are busy people but please do atleast a little research before posting anything. Or you just dont care maybe?
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
I really hope this is a tactical PR move by Google to sell more stock when they start selling shares on the net.
It sure would work for me! The horrendous idea of Microsoft 0wning Google!
Look at the ugly, bloated, slow, insecure, spamful and formerly nice, friendly, fast service that Hotmail has turned into since they were assimilated by the Evil One of Redmond.
Welcome to the collective.
It's clear that Microsoft recognizes the value of Google's technology.
I don't know about you, but my web browsing relies heavily on Google to find sites that I will look at. I mean, that level of reliance is almost like how I rely on libc . And any businesses that I might find on the other end probably consider high Google rank worth a lot of money.
Microsoft, of course, loves to be in a position where people and businesses have to rely upon them heavily. It's potentially quite profitable.
Until now, people have relied on Google's goodwill not to use their powerful position unfairly. Since there are monetary incentives for Googles business to "manage" those searches differently, I'm alway apprehensive and would be appalled if a company with Microsoft's track record were to gain that additional power (as if they aren't sufficiently powerful now).
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Does this mean that the nice and clean look of google will change to green/blue with Microsoft logo's everywhere?
Does this mean that you will have to click "I agree" before doing a search?
Does this mean that if you search Microsoft Google, for 'linux' you will get the same results as a search on msn these days? linux search on msn instead of Google without MS?
42 + 1 = 42
Time to change search engines once that happens. Man, how hard is it becoming to be to avoid supporting Microsoft in IT?
good grief, what a disaster that would be. I'm sure there'd be a flock of resignations pretty damn quickly if that happened (from Google, that is, not Microsoft.) Yikes!!!
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
So this is what the end of the world feels like.
Giving IE users a taste of their own medicine since 2005 - http://pods.-is-a-geek.net/
The day that Microsoft aquires Google will be the day I stop using Google
Not if Google keeps enough shares with the original owners to control the company. When a company goes public, it does not have to sell every share of the company they are issuing. A good example is Ford. The Ford family still owns almost 100% of the voting shares of Ford Motor Company. At no point in the future will there be a hostile takover of Ford without a lot of family members participating in the takover.
Google could easily either hold a bunch of shares with the original owners (preferably more than 50%) or make the shares they sell non-voting shares. I seriously doubt they will be selling enough voting shares for a hostile takeover.
It all depends on the ownership structure - just because you're a public company doesn't mean that a majority of the shares are out in the marketplace. Google could go IPO, and still maintain majority control amongst the insiders.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Have Microsoft pay 20+ billion in cash from their "war chest", then reinvest the money in a mix of commercial Linux companies and a trust fund for developing GPL / OSS software.
:)
Spending "only" 10 billion on developing Open Source software would have an enormous effect - imagine what could be done with the Gimp if you had 20 top developers working on improvements with long term contracts and no marketing pressure.
I love google, but not at any cost
from some of the other posts, it seems like it's not likely in the near future... I don't mind if they start trading publicly (as long as they keep 51% of stock, they still make all the decisions), but if they merge with M$, I'm going to have to go with a different search engine...
wouldn't it go through ASP
*shudder*
There will be an addition to the BSOD's fasmily if this should happen. The GBSOD, meaning Google's Blue Screen Of death. "I'm sorry your search has caused a invalid return of results Error code AS10007845G321J" Which like MS's codes will tell us nothng.
-Certified TechnoWeinie
Based on Microsoft's past history, when they buy content / service oriented organizations, they tend to replace the existing software with their own. It reminds me of good old hotmail, it seemed to be a priority with microsoft to switch over a working system over to NT after they purchaced it, the only likely rational being a PR move rather then a fuctional one. It doesn't matter whether or not which platform is better, it's about taking a working solid information system and adapting it to another platform resulting in the usual slew of bugs.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Knowing Gates, it may not be my choice anyway because I do not use IE, and I refuse to use Windows.
photosMy Photostream
does this mean i'm going to get the message
"You need to have internet explorer 5.5 or higher to view this page" everytime i try to find something online ? if the desktop market isn't enough they try to own the space between the desktops too. next time i'm inthe usa i might have to hire a pie truck(cream pies) and drive it threw a MS office(i am joking....kinda)
Just buy ( err 'merge' ) the competition, saves you time an trouble creating a viable alternative.
Sounds like monopoly in action.
Google wont run on Linux after that.. just one more 'example of a failed Linux company, see they arent viable' to tout around...
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Registration free link...provided by who else Google.
www.teoma.com gives me good results.. Have fun..
"...goes public instead can't Microsoft simply begin buying shares of Google to gain "ownership" of the company? "
Well, yes and no...
Google is considering selling about a 10 to 15 percent stake to the public, to get something between $2 billion, according to NY Times.
Tha's not enough to control the company, but could some how influence it.
As a matter of fact, there are concerns about Goldman's close relationship with Microsoft and Yahoo. Goldman Sachs is among the banks that could handle the IPO.
- "Having a clean conscience is sign of bad memory"
With M$FT's cash reserves as big as they are a hostile takeover is possible.
Just buy up 51% of the shares once they go public.
No big deal.
There goes the network neighborhood!
:-( --- argh. Despair, I owe again.
Will the feds really allow a monopolist that has been convicted of antitrust abuse to acquire such a strategic piece of infrastructure?
I have no love for the current administration. I've always underestimated the size of their cahoonas, but I can't believe even they would allow this in an election year.
One other problem: Lots of people mistrust M$. This would be the end the primacy of google searches. It would just give rise to a new and different search engine.
the only company MS is under talks to buy right now is not google but our own satan incarnate SCO group..
Don't Tread on OpenSource
So I guess the people who predicted the fall of the internet might be proven right after all.
- MS merges with (takes over) Google
- All Google's Linux based hosts are replaced with Windows boxes.
(- Internet slowdown)
- Latest worm exploits MS security vulnerability, spreads through all IE browsers doing searches, then through local shares to servers.
(- Internet slowdown)
BANG! :-)
zWhat would an EWOULDBLOCK block, if an EWOULDBLOCK could block would? -- me
Not to mention blue-screened servers everywhere. Man, I can't wait.
All I want is a kind word, a warm bed and unlimited power.
Laugh all you want, but once they go public a hostile takeover is a real possibility.
All the need to do is buy 51% of the shares. And yes, they do have that kind of money.
I remember when Google provided an amazing treasure trove of genuinely useful medical information. But these days the spammers are really screwing it up. For example, suppose you are in serious need of medical information on "tramadol withdrawal" (exact phrase). Essentially 100% of the 6000+ matches are, you guessed it, spammer links to buy more tramadol. Useful medical information has become almost impossible to find, unless it's some obscure thing there's no on-line pharmacy pill for.
After all, Google is kicking everyone's ass eight ways to Sunday being a private funded entity. Imagine what they could do if they were flush with cash from an offering. Given how HUGE Google is now and the sheer number of servers there is not only a high cost of entry to match them but also a lot to dedicate in terms of resources to bring yourself to their level in terms of code, etc. As we all know MS has lusted after Google and even had/has dreams of building a competitor. Plus they have billions in dollars just laying around anyway. It would be one hell of a coup if they can pull it off and a tragedy of untold proportions for the surfing public because what makes Google so special is it's culture. The problem with Google and MS is that the cultures are SO profoundly different that Google would go straight to hell if MS succeeded. As you know you can't put a price on the culture. Look at Apple.
IMHO Google has been getting more difficult to find what you want because of the advertising, unlike when it first started. For it to get assimilated into MS seems like a natural progression. I am hoping that a new startup that has a more honest page rank comes into the picture soon. It seems ripe for the picking for someone with a new idea (not sure what that is though).
Stay tuned for new sig...
than to troll his own web site.
And mod'ing me down in a virtual "shoot-the-messanger" exercise won't change the blatantly incorrect headline on this story.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=boycott&btnG=Google+Search
wonce the felonious kingdumb 'absorbs' the googites, that search result will surely change. tell 'em robbIE.
the most 'popular' search engines in the gnu millennium, WILL be the ones that are the least buyassed towards payper liesense stock markup FraUD corepirate nazi felons.
I for one welcome our new Redmond overlords.
oh, wait...
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
"The search engine you have just tries to use is not crappy and Microsoft made, we all now blue screen of death you, thank you for your time."
:P
On the brightside, no need for a wallpaper if you use it
--- [Insert intresting Sig here]
a neighbor in a good neighborhood selling the house and property to a drug dealer. The neighborhood is turning to shit.
NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo....!!!!!!!
Micro$soft is a big turd rolled in money. I hope that Google know what they are doing before they embrace it. :-)
just ask Kevin Mitnick. When Mitnick was on tour promoting his book "The Art of Deception," he told us a bit about Markoff. Apparently, when Mitnick was caught (the first time...), Markoff came to Mitnick for comments and the story. Mitnick refused to tell Markoff anything without some compensation; at this point Markoff became angry and told Mitnick that he would publish anything he heard about Mitnick as being true. Markoff proceeded to write stories about how Mitnick could trigger missile launches from a phone by hacking into NORAD, and Mitnick ended up being held without bail and without trial for 5 years (you thought Guantanomo Bay was unfair?).
So fuck John Markoff. go ahead, flame me for trusting Mitnick's side of the story. i don't care.
http://www.google.com/google.reg
from
http://www.google.com/options/defaults.html
Enjoy.
yeah, its about time to start looking for a new search engine to use anyway
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
With 15 % of the shares ?
How could that be ?
Have you RTFA ?
Two observations:
1. Even the N.Y. times wasn't able to offer much real evidence for merger talks. Also, remember that they are just talks, and a preference for IPO was stated by the company.
2. If Microsoft acquires Google, give them enough time and they will commercialize it to the point that it isn't as useful. At that point, the private world will once again rise up to meet the demand.
The real underlying conflict here is between privately and publicly owned business. The mass markets and finely tuned product quality have always been at odds.
http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
Why does not MS buy google and only give limited service to non IE-browsers and also, only rate(good that is) IIS served pages. Not in an official way(duh), inofficial and just so ppl would say, "IIS pages gets rated better, we need to use it in our organisation", yeah...and the information control, HOT DAMN! There is not, nor ought there be anything but Gates-software controlled information...O..sweet lord, the possibilities..like the way one can control (through selective 'information') ppl, just like when convince THEM(mindless idiots) that Irak had anything to do with 9/11, dont even have to say it, just make ppl belive it..PPL ARE SO EASY!! AND, THIS IS THE BRILLIANT PART, WHEN PPL START TO WIND ABOUT IT, CALL THEM CONSPIRATORS. /You may think my hat is funny
i try to avoid using Microsoft stuff as much as possible.. so its time to find a new search engine to use...
IT is Dead. The industry is Shot Join Others Who Feel Your Pain http://www.internalstrife.com/
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm finding Google increasingly less useful. For example, look at the obviously inflated results for Jolt here
Microsoft already points their browsers to MSN.com by default, but amazingly many people know better and switch their search page to Google. So if Google didn't need any help from Microsoft before, why would they need it now? Thankfully this tactic hasn't worked as well for micro$oft as they had originally hoped.
Blender And Linux Fan
What would happen if SCO claimed (perhaps they have) that they owned libc? A new free one would emerge quickly.
Same story here. If M$ bought google, because of M$'s crediblity, users would "nominate" a different "king of searches". New king would get lots of traffic, hence funding. M$'s "investment" while still valuable, would no longer be as valuable as it would be with without M$.
My guess is if anything, M$ may become minority investor, with access at the API level and maybe some mirroring rights.
I'm sending you my pacemaker replacement bill.
That's all the searching you'll ever need. Anything else is just lies and slander!
I think it is rediculous that Microsoft can continue it's monopolistic practices even after being deamed a monopoly. Hum, let's see, the browser wars are over, Media player is taking over, they are now making watches, pda's, cell phones, etc. Now they want to buy Google? I hope it never comes to that. I also hope that the people at Google are not that stupid. MS is locking out others from MSN Messenger, Office files, and the like. Any one who doesn't think they are hindering technologys growth doesn't know business. Competition breads innovation and at at rapid pace. MS = Shotty software at best and put out at a snails pace. Has anyone seen Anti-Trust? I could only hope MS would go down in flames like in the movie. We would all benifit in the long run. Expecially since we are now expected to pay more money for the OS and Office suite than the we are for the entire computer!
Why are people so obsessed with google? They defend it like it's a member of their family. Google this, google that. Having one search engine that everyone relies on is not a good situation. I'm hoping nutch is making progress..
The Oracle: [The Keymaker is] being held prisoner by a very dangerous program, one of the oldest of us. He is called the Merovingian, and he will not let him go willingly.
Neo: What does he want?
The Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
Informatus Technologicus
So microsoft gets google. What's to stop them from removing all linux links, or even all apple links. Google was great because they never sold out; They always kept their search engine honest. Once a corporation like microsoft gets ahold of something this popular, you can be sure that they'll exploit it as advertising. I too hope this is a parody for haloween.
This is a halloween prank, nothing more. You should all be ashamed.
(obvious I know...) Here's what google thinks about microsoft. Not at all complimentary.
You can't just buy shares that aren't there to be sold. Google wants to sell about 10% - 15% of the company in the IPO, which hardly gives anyone a strong influence.
Jason Lotito
...because you're experiencing slow Google searches now? Or, are you just trying to cure a problem that doesn't exist?
Twin or more? ITA
Apache/Spring/La
"Netscape once threatened Microsoft with a software browser that promised to be an alternative to its overwhelmingly dominant computer operating system."
Need I say more?
Vs lbh pna ernq guvf, ybt bss abj. Tb bhgfvqr. Syl n xvgr.
google is not equal to MS just because one simple thing... THEIR PRODUCT ACTUALLY WORKS
xHAREKx33
Of course, the fact is. Slashdot or the submitter didn't make this story up. I'm sure you read the summary where it mentioned that this is a New York Times story. Although the NYT is not neccessarily a favorite of mine, it is what most would consider a "News Source," which technically makes this "News," which cannot make this trolling.
I actually came here last night wondering where this story was... I was thinking "a story on our favorite search engine and our arch enemy not being covered on SlashDot? What's wrong here?"
So... if they hadn't done the story, they'd be complained about, and apparently, for doing the story, they're complained about.
Since there's no way that they can win... and since slashdotters always seem to mod up complainers, I say that they er on the side of calling a story that is not an editorial in the New York Times a news-worthy story... wouldn't you agree?
I don't want slashdot to censor my news for me...
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor
According to this site, Google powers 76% of all search results, and MSN 15% (numbers seem to be for August 2003). I cannot see the FTC or European Commission approve this merger. This merger would eliminate the only serious competitor to Google on the search engine market.
When has google ever been slow to load? Why need more bandwidth? U full of it.
Google will go from being nice clear, made in proper HTML, to being as bloated as MSN.com, with all the extra shit, ads, and not just our search results. It will be a sad day on the internet if google would merge with Microsoft.
Please tell me that this is just a nightmare. I wonder if there is any other search engine at least half as good as google incase they get Microshafted?
Oh no, Uncle Billy lost the cash receipts, now that awful Mr Potter is going to take over and change the name to Pottersville!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I am not an investment banker, but from what I understood, for a company to initiate a hostile takeover, once the company has acquired a certain percentage of shares (s rather low percentage), it would have to inform the takeover target. The target can then take actions to avert such a hostile takeover.
I don't know the full details, but that's how I understood it. Besides, as others have stated, Google isn't putt the majority of its shares on the market. And if indeed MS want to persuade shareholders to vote for a merger, MS would have to offer a REALLY sweet deal, and considering Google's potential market cap, that deal has to be in the billions. MS has a lot of money, so they can do it, but they may enrage their own shareholders, which wouldn't be a good thing.
-B
If google is public and MS wants it, the only hope it would have of remaining "free" is that the FTC would decide MS doesn't need to expand its "monopoly" into search engines.
User-agent: * /cgi-bin/ /topsecret/WMD/orders/
/
Disallow:
Disallow:
# Bad Bots
User-agent: MSNGoogleBot
Disallow:
####
All your site will be in MSNGoogle's cache!
All your site belongs to M$! Remember that!
NoSuchGuy
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
It would be Verisign buying Google.
Microsoft is in a position to do a lot of stupid things, and generally doesn't.
Verisign is in the position to do a lot of stupid things, and generally does.
Why would anyone use Google? It can't even find porn on the Internet.
Yes, that's a real search. Try it from your Google toolbar if you don't believe me. As of the morning of 10-31-03, the results are completely work-safe.
What is this thing called microsoft you're all talking about?
And who's Bill?
I'm there. Where do I submit my resume?
Black holes are where the Matrix raised SIGFPE
Just what we need, a Search Engine that crashes your PC and has to have security patches added every other day.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
"Don't be evil."
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Today is Halloween, not April Fool's!
Although I guess this qualifies for the horror genre...
av.com search for kernel note: sponsored sites first, half of the sites CRAP
google search note: 20% crap, no sponsored links
msn.com search note: 100% crap, kernel.org does NOT show up - useless
search msn.DE (!) note: 60% crap, but kernel.org is FIRST entry. - political corrections are only made in the us-website
Man, it's bad enough that Google's hiding the official sites of some places behind 5 pages of other sites that want you to buy things... but to merge with Microsoft? Who's own searching abilities are really, really awful? I'll have to find a new search engine. :-(
-jls
Techno-pagan
I have heard this directly from one source, who has seen the actual machines, and from several other indirect sources.
Cheers.
What to do? Switch to Teoma.
I use Teoma interchangably with Google. Teoma results are as relevant as Google's yet slightly different, however they almost always have the best most relevant results in common.
Teoma's search site is as sparse and ad free as Google's and the search results are of as high a quality. The only Google feature I would miss if it were to dissapear tomorrow is the Google cache.
Eat at Joe's.
There's an interesting article in this week's Economist about Google. No mention there about possible mergers but alot of talk about Microsoft as the main threat to Google.
http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/today/requested.ht ml
It's good to see that them over at Redmond finally are getting it!
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, recently spoke at my school (University of Maryland; he got his CS degree here). In no uncertain words he said how much he hated Microsoft - he is on our side every step of the way - against monopolies, against DRM, against the DMCA (which forced Google to censor certain webpages), etc. The only way this merger will ever happen is over Sergey Brin's cold, dead body.
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
6) Linux gives cancer {The Simpsons}
there's no place like ~
BOO! Thanks for the early-morning scare, Taco!
Just...
Whatever you do, with Google's IPO coming about, DO NOT INVEST IN IT IF YOU THINK MICROSOFT WILL GET THEIR HANDS ON IT.
If they do, it will get trashed out in real short order, and we'll be forced back to Netscape or something similar.... Ugh...
All content in this message is copyright (c) 2008. All rights reserved. RIAA is prohibited here.
Earlier, considering that Google didn't have any obvious reason to continue to be non-evil, I was considering a way around this. A distributed peer-to-peer search engine might be workable; each machine would spend a certain amount of time spidering, but not too much.
Results for each word would be distributed, so any search would get responses quickly, from machines nearby in the network. Responses from more distant machines would take longer, but at least some response would arrive quickly.
I'm afraid I don't know anything about how to implement this in detail, but other presumably do.
One of Microsoft's Research Groups (http://www.microsoft.com/research) is supposedly working on a search engine which would be "the best" several generations down the road. If Google were to sell their software assets (and keep their brain power independent), they could make a lot of money (for the private stock holders - as they haven't gone public....yet), and go back to the drawing board and work on Google 2.0.
I am sorry to see that Google is going public. Look what happened to Yahoo. The e-mail program is almost unusable, since it won't let you send messages to more than five people for fear of spam and now it won't even let you "reply to all." Yahoo/Geocites is full of bugs. You can only upload one file at a time and can't use FTP. It adds useless code at the end of each page that you have to go in and erase. The list goes on.
One can only dread a Google-Microsoft merger. Microsoft's search engine is clearly slanted towards Microsoft products. Try looing up Linux on MSN. Google has manged to remain pure. The results paid for by advertizers are clearly marked in shaded areas. Will our old public internet remain or has it already given way to coporate greed and incompetence?
If you own Google and Microsoft is interested in acquiring you, why wouldn't you do it?
Google isn't some mom & pop deal like Nullsoft was when AOL got 'em.
At this rate is MS wants them, they're gonna fork over some heavy cash. Who can say no to that? Craziness.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Buy Google?
Any reasonable regulator would stop this as an antitrust infringement. Therefore, Ashcroft and SEC chairman Donaldson will do NOTHING about this.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
-h-
From the article:
Netscape once threatened Microsoft with a software browser that promised to be an alternative to its overwhelmingly dominant computer operating system.
Talk about sensationalist journalism...
well, I could say it was better than IE, but man would it sound cool if I said it threatened the whole OS!
I think my principles are reachin' an all time low
One of Google's main motivations was Don't be Evil
Sure, but it would be running on Linux.
D'you want WMDs with that...
I always found it easier to search Microsoft's website using Google anyway. Maybe Microsoft realized the same thing and decided the easiest way to fix it was to just buy Google! Don't try and fix the problem yourself - throw enough money at it, and it'll go away.
My tinfoil hat may be on too tight, however:
1. Microsoft Loses Antitrust case.
2. Bush gets into the Whitehouse and expected results of antitrust case become very wattered down.
3. Microsoft employee becomes chief of cyber security for the government - authors 'National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace'.
4. Google is known to have former NSA people on the payroll.
5. Microsoft's 'trusted computing' strategy includes building an all in one DRM gateway.
6. Microsoft goes after Google...
It seems to me that Microsoft is tightening their ties with government in an attempt to influence the upcoming DRM war. What better way to do that than to have an inside man to set internet security policy, to control all access of electronic resources into the home, and to control the most important search portal. There are probably other evidence to support this view - but I don't have the time to 'google' it all for you (kind of ironic, if it wasn't so scary in a 'big brother is watching you' sort of way...)
To paraphrase Frank Herbert, "he who controls the access, controls the universe"
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
what will happen to google.com/linux ? will it redirec to windowsupdate.microsoft.com?
You need people like me so you can point your fuckin fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." So what that make you? Good?
OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!....
ohhhh no no no nooooooooooooooo
please wake me up!
-- There is no spaam
Come on, guys. Did you even read the article? Microsoft approached Google and got rebuffed.
"Morgan Stanley is viewed as the frontrunner, the executives said, though Google may choose two banks to lead the underwriting effort. Goldman Sachs is also viewed as a contender, the executives said, but Google's management has shown some concern about Goldman's close relationship with Microsoft and Yahoo, another major competitor."
They are even sketchy about using Goldman Sachs because of their close relationship with Microsoft. It's pretty clear, guys, that Google want nothing to do with Microsoft whatsoever. It's damned irresponsible for you to run a headline like this given the facts.
"Terminate?"
"Terminate... with extreme prejudice"
Remember when hotmail ws taken over my Microsoft and they tried to move it over to Exchange (numerous times)? I wonder how many attempts it will take them to get Google running under what ever flavor of Windows OS they choose should they merge/acquire/whatever with Google.
You never saw a fish on the wall with its mouth shut.
I laugh whenever I see news that Microsoft wants to take over the search engine business next. I've got a humble little website that's been up for half a year. On a really good day it gets 5000 visits. It is linked from at least a dozen old established sites, including some major Apple news sites. It has prominent placement on every major search engine... except MSN, where it doesn't show up at all.
Of course, what would you expect for a site that covers Apple and Linux items almost exclusively. If M$ owned Google almost every "undesireable" site would be wiped off the map!
Murray Todd Williams
why not through in Walmart and McDonalds?
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
MSN has been the subject of some troubling news lately. After eliminating almost 40 positions in the MSN Messenger, MSN Groups, and MSN Photos group, one has to wonder what is going on over there at MOSWEST (article). The termination of the Looksmart deal (article) effectively means that Looksmart is going out of business and that Microsoft's engineers have until the end of June, 2003, to create a new search engine.
Kriston
Perhaps you would like to read the article instead of posting first. Google has no intention of doing business with Microsoft. They don't even want to use the same bank. I know it seemed that way because of Slashdot posting this with a rather irresponsible headline but it's just not true. Read the article!
"Terminate?"
"Terminate... with extreme prejudice"
As stated "Nice sensationalist headline".
The actual story downplays the acquisition talk as refused, and actually describes MS's interest in getting a stronger foothold in search. The headline and the content of the post hints at offers being made and board meetings going on behind closed doors.
All in all, sensationalist crapola pointed away from the true intent of the article.
Sensational: adj. Arousing or intended to arouse strong curiosity, interest, or reaction, especially by exaggerated or lurid details: sensational journalism; a sensational television report.
Hey, what do you know. It fits!
Censorship? Hilarious. Why not call me a Nazi next?
Here's an idea. How about an unbiased reporting of the facts?
Sorry, but the headline and description are totally misleading. I don't care which submission was posted on this story, but at least get it right. A merger would have meant that Microsoft effectively controlled the Internet, at least until someone came along with a better technology. Here's the post that I originally submitted:
Microsoft and Google: Partners or Rivals?
The New York Times Technology reports that Microsoft and Google were in partnership/takeover discussions during the last two months, in part due to the competitive threat that Google poses to Microsoft. 'Microsoft - desperate to capture a slice of the popular and ad-generating search business - approached Google.' Ultimately Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page decided to go the initial public offering (IPO) route. How different might things be if Google had agreed to be acquired by Microsoft? Looks like we'll never know. This also puts some of the search industry frenzy and acquisition activities into a different context. Fittingly, here's a Google link to the article.
I use google because I trust the results. They limit the advertising too. What on earth were they thinking It's like the Kobe case, even if he's innocent, his image has been tarnished forever. Bad move Google.
What if Digg added local news and a Slashdot inspired comment karma system? ---
http://houndwire.com
It's nothing about covering the news or not, it's about the sensationalist headline used. "Google Considering Merger With Microsoft"??? RTFA and so far it seems that we are very far from this. When I saw the headline, I got very scared. When I RTFA, I felt relieved.
Next time, instead of reading /. , I'll take a subscription to the Daily Apple, the Sun, the Mirror or to whatever US equivalent there may be.
And in a /. fashion, I must take my leave:
You sir, are an insensitive clod (that goes for the parent and the news submitter and /. admin who didn't amend the headline.
yours truely,
Anguo esq.
(just joking: I'm just Anguo: I don't want to be modded -1 troll).
http://www.masquilier.org/republic/election/ Condorcet, Plurality voting and alternative voting enabled bulletin board.
Currently, the Google.com site has nearly a 40% share of search query traffic. They're very close to the share level of an industry (search engine advertising) that starts to interest government regulators. With Microsoft already in trouble for anti-competitive behavior, they may get into trouble buying another near-monopoly.
Microsoft often hasn't been a good deal for people it's bought. Online maps are mostly a duopoly between mapquest.com and velocity.com. Velocity was bought last year by Microsoft and, frankly, hasn't done so well with MS techology.
...Msoft try to convert all those linux boxen to Winders. It's like Hotmail all over again.
"If you have done 6 impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways" -- hhgg
A google is so much more than a micro, that it would still be a google. Go GoogleSoft!
Bah, more like anonymous lazy person. You might want to look at Grub which is actually a distributed search engine. The spidering results still go to a single, monolithic organization though, LookSmart I think. Getting a truly decentralized search engine would be difficult, especially with the marked delays that decentralized networks suffer from, but I see no reason why not. Are you going to program it?
Starling
If Microsoft does consume Google they will be forced to drop http://www.google.com/linux :/
search engine
Candle burns its brightest in the dark
What to do? Switch to Teoma.
I use Teoma interchangably with Google. Teoma results are as relevant as Google's yet slightly different, however they almost always have the best most relevant results in common.
The problems I see with Teoma are
1) they seem to crawl sites pretty infrequently (I see two old pages of mine listed...one 404's, another has had all its content moved to my new site (and redirects you there after a couple seconds). Google appears to visit my site at least once a month, sometimes more.
2) you have to pay to play if you're a webmaster. If your site's already in, then great (unless the page is now gone, like mine are). If you want to get your new site included, you gotta pony up the dough. Google crawls my site for free...
Google has quite a bit of the search market.
What many including myself like about them is that they aren't flashing ads to hard in my face, or attempting to get me to register for things. Services are free. It's a happy place.
All that contradicts Microsoft's philosophy.
Now we are going to Microsoft ads when doing searches for "Apple". Pay for image searches... who knows what else.
With the large market share Google has, this is pretty creepy.
Google has almost been a neutral man on the net. Great technologies, very accessible, free.
All things that Microsoft is not.
Very sad.
If (a big if) this thing does happen, could you imagine what the search engine would be like? Microsoft wouldn't allow Google to have anything to do with Linux, and after time it would merge to Microsoft based servers. The same thing happened with Hotmail, which used to run Unix. After a few years, and a lot of frustration on MS's part, they attempted to switch that over. I'm not sure if it worked in the end, but they tried nonetheless. Google runs on Linux for a reason...it's fast and stable. It's my bet that if they would try to get rid of Linux, the speed and agility of google will decrease, ultimitaly leading to its waning years and to opportunities for other upstarts to enter the fray.
I can't wait till I'm tring to solve a routing problem and all my Google Groups searches return posts from alt.microsoft.public.ras-routing or alt.microsoft.public.isaserver.
alt.my.head.hurts.
Can I bum a sig? I left mine at the office.
It could be bad, if they try to convert all of Google to Windows.
I'm wondering if Google considered creating a "poison pill" that essentially voids the advantage of a leveraged buyout (?). If they haven't, it's time to start crafting one!
maybe cmdr taco and the bunch have some deal on some google ipo stock, and this is one heck of a way to make that ipo go through the roof
but it's just a guess, everyone loves a conspiricy therory....
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
pretty much the death of Google as a non-evil entity. I'm surprised Google would even THINK of doing this, especially with a philosophy of "Don't be Evil."
-- I am. Therefore, I think!
I guess this just highlites that what we really need is a true p2p search engine that can not be co-opted by any one interest or orginisation.
Perhaps we can create a program where everybody can specify their own search words, but their relavence is rated by peer review.
I bet this story was found by someone at MS pressing the "I'm Feeling Lucky" search
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
The Economist also have an article today on the subject of Goggle.
The article speculates a possible $15bn Goggle IPO, and argues that this would be risky, because unlike Yahoo, Lycos, MSN etc, Goggle have only a single product, and can easily be displaced by a couple of clever computer geeks, just like the founders of Goggle did with Alta vista.
Worryingly, they argue that Goggle should head into the paid for search search market in order to increase their current $150 m profit. ($150m is clearly not enough to justify a $15bn market cap).
They also cite Google's perceived 'goodness' compared with Microsoft, as an advantage in any battle against MS, and a barrier against any takeover.
Now this is not so bad, is it? Think a bit about it. Google filled a void when it emerged. Now some other startup can fill that void and probably better. I think it's an iteration process. Somebody else will fill the need for a fast, robust, FREE and unbiased search engine and Google will go into the search engines junk yard with the likes of Altavista, Lycos, Hotbot etc. It's about time.
my $0.02
Anonymous Coward
a while back i read an article about google and it said that some of the search phrases are displayed by a projector behind the "receptionists desk". everybody start searching for "GOOGLE DONT MERGE WITH MICROSOFT!" perhaps some of those will be displayed. if not, it will probably become one of the top search phrases for the day.
Why did I lurk so long before registering for a Slashdot account? I could have had a Slashdot ID of less than 100000.
Slashdot is on a slow ride down the drain. No ethic, pure sensationalism, or CmdrTaco is a dumb fucking retarted ass, or he can't read.
You chose.
It looks like you're searching for porn sites!
1. Bring up all sites with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera?
2. Take you to vivid video?
3. Just give you some privacy, you dirty bastard!
The End of Days is here.
Even if MS bought Google, we live in a free world. Other search engines would surface. Just like Google was relatively unknown 4 years ago, I bet there are some really good search engines that are for free out there.
Depending how the cards are played over the next five-ten years, Google could be bigger than Microsoft. Having that ability to harness vast amounts of raw information versus the software that makes it.
Oh god no...
My eye started to twitch as soon as I read the original story on google news. *twitch*
I can just see the announcement on google now.
1. Banner ads, splashing MS all f'n over google.com
2. Notification that Goggle is now using IIS and SQL server.
3. Google grinds to a halt as some script kiddie unleashes his/her wrath upon them in the form of a very small and easy exploit that my grandmother could code with 5 minutes of learning how to use a keyboard.
I must go pray to tux...
- Jimbob
... this is truly a scary story befitting the Hallowe'en tradition. Well done editors!
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Earth to stop rotating, RMS shaves beard and gives up masturbating, Slashdot starts running real stories, Hell freezes over...
My Karma is bad. May I take you out for a drink? It's on me...
GWB considers quitting presidency and working at Mickey D's
Nooo!!! Don't let GWB run McDs into the ground like his other corporate (and political) ventures! However, that's a blunder the US populace might actually call him on.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
[does quick test with known search param]
.htm files are named).
One thing Teoma does WRONG, is insist on *including* the "did you mean something else?" results in the *desired* results. So with a search that has known targets, only about half of Teoma's were correct. Using "quote marks" didn't help.
Also, Teoma had 156 results (including a large percentage of forced bad results) whereas Google had 238 results (with only a few spurious ones included, all due to how some of the irrelevant
[does another search with known results] Ugh. You don't even want to hear about this one.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Ok, this looks good for finding websites. But what about the great resources from usenet? I get 60%+ information from the newsgroups resources of google.
Check it out here.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Didn't know Teoma was pay to play. That would explain the lack of correct results for my second test search (see my other reply to the parent for your post) -- didn't get ANY results for the 2nd test param's home site, which comes up #1 on Google (as it should, since it's THE major player in its websphere).
I remember the era of "no submit your site by hand, no get found anywhere". I miss it about like I miss boils on my ass.
Google has been getting it right, and I fear the IPO and subsequent increased corporate wooing spells the end of Google as we know it.
SAS is one of the largest business software companies, yet (at least last I heard) it's still privately held with no plans to go public. Goes to show that a well-run company doesn't NEED the stock market.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Crap now I'm gonna have to pay for MSgoogle.
I just can't afford it.
Google is the ONLY search engine I use. Period. I use their toolbar as well, which is EXTREMELY handy. They would definitely lose me if this went through.
I remember when Google first came out. I was still using Yahoo and AltaVista at the time. The first time I did a search with Google, I went OMFG!!! It actually brought me what I was looking for on the FIRST LINK!!!
Seriously, this would ruin the entire interwebnet experience for me.
No. No. And FUCK NO.
Listen to my experimental-industrial-techno!
Tomorrow is November 1, not April 1.
eh, I guess the monopoly lawsuits aren't stopping them. billy will never learn. ms > riaa > sco
The link is appended with "&partner=GOOGLE", thereby bypassing the registration process. How can you miss that when you submitted the link yourself?!
***
Radio Shack. You've got questions...we've got blank stares(TM).
Yes, he DID make this story up.
It may have basis in NYT story, but it is so heavily distorted beyond regognization it might just as well be new.
Here's somewhat accurate title: "Microsoft interested in Google, Google declines."
As for the summary, it's just as or even more far off and should go something like "Microsoft recently approached Google to offer partnership or even merge, but Google was not interested, and would rather go public.". Slashdot and the submitter turn the story upside down, with little resemblance of anything mentioned in original.
So, let's see...
Google is being bought by Microsoft, right? At least, that's what the gossip-mill says.
Now, Google runs on Linux, a stated fact.
Most Linux-users happen to not like uncle Gates that much, presumed fact.
Google starts to sell it's shares on the internet soon, definite fact.
Linux users like Google, presumed fact.
Concluding: in order to prevent Microsoft from obtaining a majority of the available shares and thereby effectively ruining the way Google runs on Linux as well as diminishing the support Google gets from Linux users, those users massively go buy Google stock!
I wonder if this gossip was first found when someone Googled for "google microsoft" and saw the 3rd hit from above...
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
If Microsoft and Google merge, perhaps we could call it Moogle!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo!
say it isnt so!
The shareholders must be happy. Eventually everything will be owned by Micro$oft.
"You're on my side and the dark side, like Lando Calrissian?" --Gimpy, Undergrads
I'm aware of the irony, but I didn't know what Teoma was (or that existed). So I searched on Google for it.
In other words, you only have to pay if you want a guarantee that your site will appear. If you're popular, it'll probably end up there anyway.
I'd never heard of Teoma before -- you're right, it's a great site! Thanks for the tip.
What's the next up and coming search engine?
Fred
"A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
-RMS
In theory, at least. It's been several months (probably about half a year since I first noticed) and Teoma hasn't re-crawled and re-indexed my old pages. My new page is linked to from one of my old pages, and it's yet to show up. Who's to say that Teoma is actively crawling the pages currently in their index? In my experience, they're not.
We can still go to GigaBlast, a high performance google-like search engine created by a single person and running on a shoestring budget. It's a really impressive piece of work.
If this happens, one of the cleanest, most functional websites on the internet will become just another MSN-looking crap site. God forbid I download the next Google toolbar once MS controls it. And just imagine all the popups and banner ads that will follow.
TRICK OR TREAT!!!
?
Remember when the bought hotmail? damn i loved hotmail.
It was 'free' for 203 years, then they slowly turned it into a pay service, sure you can use a limited accoutn size for now, but how long till that changes?
My point is, if MS did buy the great googley moogley, then how long would it be before you have to pay for anything past the first 5 links in a search?
Welcome to the End
Hotmail used to run on Sun machines and now we all know how great of system they have now. Google on Windows, OMIG, 'nuff said.
Nothing to see here, move along.
TWW
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=http://ww w.microsoft.com
The site www.microsoft.com is running Microsoft-IIS/6.0 on Linux.
P.S. - IBM has the funniest commercial out with a little kid being taught all sorts of things...and at the end they reveal its Linux
I wonder if Microsft would stay with google's current linux servers. Microsft seems to be comfortable running freebsd for their hotmail servers.
As root, do this:
/etc/hosts
echo "207.68.176.250 www.google.com" >>
You'll love it.
you will join the collective and serve, or be destroyed :)
Was there any doubt of that? :-D
More than mere navel gazing.
Can someone tell me why google, and every other company that reaches a certain size, feels that they must expand and become a world-dominating juggernaut?
Why can't they just be the best search engine out there? Keep speding the bizillions they make on unobstrusive ads on R&D.
HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED? *#($@*&$(@&
Hey, whatever happened to Sergei Brin telling us how Google's no. 1 premise was not to be evil? :-)
This can't be!!! The best thing in the world is merging with the worst thing in the world!!! NOOOOOOO!!!
-Magiluke
Earl Grey, Hot.
Now I read this. Maybe the end is at hand.
Well, if M$ does take-over Google, there goes the neighbourhood. Anyone want to create a new search engine for the masses? Then we can all say, This is fargin' war!
No Google, don't do it!
I think I think, therefore I think I am.
It's funny because it's true.
No matter how many of my rights are taken away, somehow I still don't feel safe. -Frigid Monkey
If you at Google are reading this (and we know you are), Google just go public!
Please stop considering merging with Microsoft.
We would hate to have to find or start another search engine.
Thanks you very much.
Have a nice day.
~8^]
Micro$oft sucks a$$. why would a linux-powered super search engine merge with a control-oriented commie organization? it doesnt make sense at all... i would seriously take a deeper look into the validity of this article...
=^_^= P|-|33R |\/|3
Why would google want to change something that works so well?
+-+-+-The folowing statement is true. The previous statement is false.-+-+-+
Will I be asked to activate my copy of the google toolbar?
I heard before that Microsoft's future is bleak, due to the competition by Free Software. But I never thought that they would be bought up by a Linux based company this fast. I expect that their part will be the daily artwork on the Google-logo, since their software has never been entirely convincing. As long as it doesn't mess up my search results, I'm all for it - after all it helps to maintain jobs for quite a large bunch of talented clipart-designers, marketing people and lawyers, who would have a hard time without this charitable gesture.
Whether or not Microsoft buys them, I know I'm worried that google faced by the pressures of having to justify it's stock being worth 15-25 billion dollars, is going to make some serious changes that are not going to benefit the Internet community as a whole.
Hopefully, I am worrying for nothing and have nothing but admiration for google to date, but just to be safe, I am wondering how hard it would be to set up an ad-free, unslanted distributed search engine for the entire Internet. Is there anything out there like this?
Blame me. I'm the one who wrote the headline.
Drawing attention to the fact that Megashaft would dearly love to turn Google into IIS hell and getting people to realise what is going on is probably the best way of preventing it.
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen
[Spoof Mode On]
Your search - Linux - did not match any documents.
No pages were found containing "Linux".
Suggestions:
- Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
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Also, you can try Google Answers for expert help with your search.
Reality is in the mind of the beholder - me 1996
solar flares.
Well Teoma is already been brought by Ask jeeves.
When I tried to submit my site, it asked for Money. This makes TOEMA irrelevant isnt it?
Nah, google has been great - but if microsoft gets their grubby mitts on it, the first order of business is going to be to nuke the hated and feared linux os and try to run the whole thing on a windoze pee cee server farm - blech...
The only reason Microsoft would want Google is if they are looking for Linux tallent.
Can one imagine how much work it would be to keep 10-20000 Windows machines running in a search engine cluster like theirs?
It certainly would be the end of Google should they try to run Windows in there.
http://slashdot.org/askslashdot/99/02/23/1251212.s html
Will slashdot ever drag itself into the year 2003 and provide the ability to edit posts?
The reason why you can't edit posts is because of the simple fact that a moderation system exists. Basically, you could get modded from +2 to -1, then fix the post and be unfairly modded (up or down). A PERFECT way for trolls to get their say in...
An extreme example would be if you typed "apple" to go to apple.com, Google could redirect you to a Microsoft page that said bad things about apple. Is there any plan to modify Firebird to allow users to switch this behavior?
Albuquerque PC
well if they are to be believed, MS runs IIS on linux...
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
I can see this becoming a slashdot poll... sorta...
...
l
What will Bill pay most for from Google?
* Pigeon wingspan
* Pigeon Efficiency (Beak rate)
* World ranked ping-pong pigeons
*
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.htm
--- root@127.0.0.1
Perhaps they're not crawling your old site if the new one is linked too instead?
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
If you want to find something on the Microsoft website, its already better to use Google than their own search engine!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
fud department.
A merger between those two would be truly tragic.
So, how did they come up with that "no" answer without even considering Microsoft's offer?
Yes, I read your post, you say, " I see no "consideration" there."
If you hate sensationalism so much, leave.