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Microsoft FAT Licensing Plan - No Big Deal?
prostoalex writes "InternetNews.com describes the reaction to Microsoft's decision on FAT licensing. It doesn't look like the company is expecting to make any significant money out of licenses (there's also a cap of $250K, so none of the big guys will have to pay millions to Microsoft). It also doesn't look like Linux companies are stressed over this decision. "We are only accessing FAT32 file systems, not using them. This licensing program is of little interest to SuSE", a Novell/SuSE spokesperson said."
Good to hear. Given the trivial amount of revenue it will bring to Microsoft, it makes me wonder why they bothered at all. They could have made the terms much more onerous and expensive, but they didn't.
In fact, Microsoft has been pretty cool about licensing terms and pricing lately. Many corporate Linux users are dumping Linux because of the IP/SCO concerns, and from what I've heard, Microsoft is offering some very attractive pricing for those companies that are seeking to switch.
No, I don't have the exact pricing in front of me - I'm a developer, not some Microsoft shill, so you'll have to do your own homework. It really shouldn't be any harder than a call to your regional Microsoft sales representative, though.
Some people design things to be freely available to the public (GPL), and others want to protect thier inventions. Like it or not, FAT is a Micro$oft product and its patents are really designed to get money from the big boys. Home/power users (regardless of the OS they use) who use the FAT filesystem dont have jack shi* to worry about really. It seems the slashdot crowd just like to winge about nothing. Whats the worst that could happen? Price of Dell PC's might rise by a few cents? For those of you smart enough to know what a filesystem is and who hate Microsoft, fear not. Besides, when was the last time you actually paid for software let alone a filesystem LOL!
Yeah, it's definately a Microsoft invention... Slow, unstable, needs to be defragmented all the time. Incredibly ineffecient, etc.
What's so good about that?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Fuck off, fucking asshole
Troll Glass
Choice. It's all about user choice. That's what software providers whose names don't start with "Micro" and end in "soft" would have you believe, anyway. Of course, what they actually mean is "buy our stuff instead". Altruism is a word that sits very uncomfortably with the software industry.
So when Sun trumpets its success in winning a legal tussle with Microsoft about Java implementation (wake up at the back there), which results in Microsoft pulling the plug on a whole bunch of operating systems and applications including Office 2000 - probably the most-widely used piece of business software in the world, who wins?
Certainly not the users, whose choice has now become a stark 'either run my business without support, or upgrade'; certainly not Sun; probably not any of the open source alternatives. No, the winner is Bill Gates. The vast majority of users left without support for their key business applications thanks to Sun, will stick with the devil they know and move to Office XP or Office 2003.
What Sun, Oracle and all the other Gates haters seem to be incapable of grasping is that people use Microsoft products because they like them. They like the consistent look and feel; they're comfortable with them; and every office has at least one person who can help out when Betty in accounts can't remember how to decimal-align a document.
Poor old Bill. What's he done to find himself in the bizarre position of running the software company with the most popular products in the world, while being almost universally-hated? It can't be as simple as money. Oracle's Larry Ellison is as rich as Gates, give or take a few million, and Sun's Scott McNealy isn't short of a few bob either. Yet neither of these chaps is portrayed as the Anti-Christ, bent on world domination.
Maybe it comes down to personality. Gates is a geek. For the richest man in the world, he certainly has the worst haircuts. But somehow you know deep down, all he really wants to do is write code. He has more money than you can shake a stick at, but he's hardly alone in that.
Larry Ellison likes to spend his on ex-Soviet bloc jet fighters and ocean-going yachts - did anyone mention mid-life crisis? HP's Carly Fiorina is VERY fond of executive jets. When not funding expensive litigation against Microsoft, it's apparent that Scott McNealy uses a large percentage of his wedge on cosmetic dentistry; while Steve Jobs, a man regarded as the Messiah by some misguided souls, obviously spends all of his on doughnuts. Gates, on the other hand, merely donates a sum approximating the GNP of Belgium to charity each year. What a bastard, eh?
So here's your real choice, users. Support the used arms industry, the American Dental Association, Dunkin' Donuts, or AIDS research in Africa.