Slashdot Mirror
U.S. Army Warns Microsoft To Back Off
declan writes "My CNET News colleague Ina Fried has written an interesting article today about how the U.S. Army has told Microsoft to stop sending free CD-ROMs of Office 2003 to government employees. In what's effectively a cease and desist order, the Army said: 'Your offer of free software places our employees and soldiers in jeopardy of unknowingly committing a violation of the ethics rules and regulations to which they have taken an oath to uphold.' Whoops! Perhaps this is Microsoft's latest way to fight free software at the Pentagon. Remember that just 8 months ago, the Army paid $471 million for Microsoft licenses."
Yep... I'm in the navy and this new item hit the streets last week (I considered submitting it as a story--oh well). We had guys and civilian contractors in our building getting free copies of office. My hate for ms reached a new high--talking about caught red-handed trying to plant seeds that will secure them--argh.
Separately, as a member of the military and despiser of the pitiful quality of ms products, I've always been strongly concerned about the military's use of ms products. The military, like many parts of the government, subcontract-out most tech work and implementation. The contractors, with sealed pay rates and support plans, have no problem deploying huge ms flagships at given branch or sub branch of the military (and then forwarding all the licensing bill to uncle sam). In other words, the root concern is that senior military folks that make the money decisions, need to get the job done but don't have a technical background (ie, to them, linux, microsoft, a server, source code, hacking, and TCP/IP are all one and the same). The contractors drum up offers, the military takes one, and--wham--the US gov't is now shelling out to ms in huge numbers and there's no one who looks at and says, 'is this the best way we could be doing it?'
If you've been around the government, you know what I mean about how scary the contractors are in terms of quality and knowledge when it comes to industrial back-end technologies. I'm on shore tour now, but when I was on my sub, you'd see these people doing a software install by blindly reading out of a SPAWAR procedure. I'd ask them stuff as they went along to gain knowledge and tips, but I usually got back a sheepish "I'm not sure". Grr...
Andy
G-Force music visualization
Totally agree.. it's all just a conspiracy to get Outlook into as many computers as possible. They know that the main battle is being fought over the groupware. Whoever controls the groupware of an organization will have a big influence on the rest of the software installed.
For anyone who doesn't beleive me, just try migrating Exchange server / Outlook to anything else, and you'll realize the depth of the insidiousness of microsoft mailing out copies of Outlook. They are miring IT department with otherwise good intentions.
somewhere, on a Big Red Sign:
if(color==blue){speed--;}
Um. $500 retail is crap.
Fair is fair, use the same value they do when calculating their "$90000000000 billion lost to software piracy!" figure.
Beep beep.
This is the same reason why anybody remotely connected to an academic institution can get software at cut-rate prices. The hope is whatever vendor's software you learn first, you stick with.
Microsoft's trying to make sure every government employee runs Microsoft at home so that the government can't risk losing compatibility with everybody's home systems. Of course, the fact that giving something worth $500 to government employees is considered a "bribe" is something Microsoft doesn't care about, since when did laws get in the way of their operations?
If it something is sent to me for free, it is um, well, free!
Here, take this gold bar, absolutely for free, it's a gift. You pay nothing, it costs nothing! And now, about that contract of ours...
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
Of course, then comes the ethics of Microsoft flooding schools with Windows-running computers in the same way Apple used to flood schools with cheap computers... the idea being what the kids learn at school would affect future purchases at home.
A while back when I was an IT monkey, I seem to remember Office2000 would install Outlook even if you specified not to, in the custom install. And don't get me started on trying to uninstall internet explorer...
This is why I turned to *nux and never looked back.
if a company claims the a produc is worth X on there finance sheets, they have to live with the consequences.
It's the reasonable, or claimed value of the product.
A 1000 dollars is worth a thousand dollars regardless of how much it cost you to get it.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
For quite a while Microsoft (and probably plenty of other software companies) has been donating software to schools and taking a tax write-off for the full retail cost. Not only is the first one free but it's apparently a tax benefit for MS.
I bet a lot of schools and charities would love that software.
I bet the kiddies would love a free bag of herion or crack, too. But does that mean you should donate one?
Let's not get another generation hooked on Windows.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Oooh, I love slipperly slopes like this ...
.. the value of an 'intangible' is whatever people are willing to pay for it. In the case of Office 2003, that value is a little more than 20$ as evidenced by the millions of people who've paid more than 20$ for it.
.. it's not just the cost of the paper your bills are printed on.
Why don't you give me your car for free? You wouldn't have a problem with it, right, because you assert that by giving it to me for free, the value of the car is reduced to 0$. Magically, by giving it to me for free, you suddenly don't mind giving the car up, because it becomes worthless through the process of you giving it as a gift! Yeah, thats how it works!
PS
Whats the value of providing you with your 'intangiable' current internet service (since you don't actually receive a physical object in return for your ISP fee?) Gee, its whatever you're currently paying for it
"Old man yells at systemd"
As I pointed out when I submitted the story, Microsoft already makes copies of Office that time out after 90-days or let you register via CC during the trial period. You can get them at most Kinko's and so on, and certainly somewhere on Microsoft's website.
So if Microsoft true intention was to familiarize large customers with new features, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to send them:
a) a self-running slideshow/video showing demonstrations of the new features (a la Video Professor, autoplay and go)
b) the aformentioned 90-day trial edition so they could install and see how well it works and then turn around and requisition it if they find a reason to keep it
c) MSDN or other licensed version that has no restrictions but the EULA clearly states the copy is not legit and cannot be used for actual business (development and testing only)
Somehow I don't think that's what Microsoft is doing. What they are doing is handing out free license keys to what retails for $499+. That means whoever happend to open the colonel's mail could just slip the key in his or her pocket and take it home with them, register it on their home system and enjoy a free copy of an outragously priced package. I mean, if everyone gets a free copy for personal use, stands to reason when requisition time comes around, people will suggest Office 2003 like they have at home.
This is bribery. Just because they call it marketting doesn't make it any less unethical. Otherwise, why can't GM just hand over the keys to their new SUV so that people can become "more familiar with our new features"? A legit Microsoft license (the actual hologrammed piece of paper with the key on it) is just as tangible and valuable as any other real-world freebie.
-JoeShmoe
.
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
Um. $500 retail is crap.
Even if it's $5.00, it was my duty in the Navy to say no. I worked supply for a while and I would not even permit a vendor to buy my lunch. The military persons who accept the free copies are in violation of several standing orders and could be literally get 20 years at hard labor at a nice gated community in Kansas.
-- $G
I bet a school could really save some money by getting those "free as in beer" copies of Office.
But hey, why should schools save money?
But that's just spreading the monopoly even further. I don't want my local school district to get Office for free. I want them to have to caugh up $25k out of thei extremely small budget for licenses. I want it to cost them a much as it can. Hopefully someone will eventually realize that they can do it for a whole lot cheaper with Macs or Linux boxes. Also you can bet that every single free copy of Office or Windows they give away is one they automatically count as a new user, even if the user uses the CD as a coaster. That's not fair either.
Get the soldiers hooked on their products, and all the nicotine...er, *Windows* patches in the world won't be sufficient to break the addiction.
That doesn't square at all with my experience... former Air Force talking here.
Most pilots are bright folks, they just stumble when confronted with an area where they have no background or training (like anyone). If you're starting from scratch, Linux is just as intuitive as anything manufactured by microsoft.
Incidently, the Air Force has plenty of tech-saavy people, often in the form of reservists. I've had systems guys in deployed locations who were company-grade officers... but senior software engineers at major corporations, often using linux on-the-job. Many of them hated our reliance on MS products, and looked for ways to use more-functional things every chance they got. Good grief... our NT servers in Saudi Arabia had to be rebooted monthly or they'd simply cease to function (don't even get me started on service packs).
MS is not the way... it is a way, and that's all you can say. Pilots are more than swift enough to use linux if you gave them a little training.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
The real goal of the program isn't gifts, it's the tried-and-true microsoft crowbar they use to get into any organization. One key 'early adopter' or in this case recipient of the software starts using the system. Then everyone who works with this person is forced to upgrade as the old versions are incompatable with the new version.
Government employees are a great target for this because it forces all the non-governmental organizations that work with the government to get licensed for the software or face not being able to exchange documents.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
Just wait until they have to spend $2500 to open a support incident with Microsoft in order to solve a problem with that "free" software.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I was watching a television show on the history of weapons used in the American Civil War. Colt Firearms did something similar. They sent beautifully engraved and inlaid Colt revolvers to many generals and public officials. They were just gifts, but it was an obvious attempt to gain influence with decision makers in the government.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
And in the end you're locked into whoever gave you the grant. Indentured servitude is implied.
Well, if MS can afford to give away thousands of copies of office that supposedly cost $500 retail (and not all that much less OEM), how the hell so they reckon the cost of Office and Windows at those prices? Not only that but MS gets to deduct the whole thing from tax.
It's no wonder that MS is the biggest and richest software company in the world. They've been ripping off everyone for the past two decades.
MS Office 2003 may not be selling too well, but that is no excuse to give away free copies of it to government employees to boost marketshare.
Rather it would be better to give free copies to the education market that cannot truely afford it. Our college still uses MS Office 2000, and trying to do a PowerPoint XP/2002 Slideshow on a machine with Office 2000 and a Projector loses a lot of the special effects and other things.
Also interesting to note is the media copy protection that MS Office 2003 has in it. Another reason for avoiding MS Office 2003 and sticking with an older version of MS Office or going with OpenOffice.org instead. I can see novices copy protecting their documents that they need to share with others and then someone in a different department tries to open up a shared document and it won't let them, and they need access to the info ASAP. We already see this problem partically when novices set passwords on documents and share them and don't tell anyone else what the password is.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Our armed forces have higher ethics and morals than 90% of the business executives in the world. They don't make the decision to start a war, never have and never will. Learn how to read the constitution.
The above post is from aflamebaiting troll.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
When MS "donates" copies of its software to schools it usually claims the full retail cost against tax.
...
Is it claiming the full cost of these CDs against tax? If so, it is effectively getting the US Government (and its tax-payers) to buy these copies.. Thousands of copies at $500 a time without even placing and order ?
Great business if you can get it ! Why bother fighting off Linux in the Open Market, and spending all that money on marketing? Just send millions of copies of Office to various Fed departments and make $499.90 profit on each one
Paul
www.opencouncil.org
Open
ya later they will call the bsa for the same people to show their license and then have to pay up.
what a joke!! LOL!!
That's probably true. But do you know why? Because MS software is designed to take away freedom of choice while Linux and open source are designed to expand that freedom. Personally, I do have a problem with my tax dollars being used to take freedom away from my fellow Americans.
Anthony Papillion
Advanced Data Concepts, Inc.
"Quality Custom Software and IT Services"
And 9 out of 10 times, an incompetent admin is more likely to be able to fix windows than linux.
That doesn't mean that Windows is easier to use or esier to fix. It doesn't even mean that Windows breaks in easily fixable ways. It is not a reflection of the quality of the underlying technologies. Incompetent admins aren't likely to have a breadth of real experience. As such, they are likely to be working with something that was easy for them to get a job doing and especially something that had easily available paper credentials. There are more incompentent Windows admins than there are incompetent Linux admins. There are also more Windows users than Linux users at the moment.
I believe the his point was that since this just showed up in the mail, you have no way of knowing if it's really legit. What if someone had trojaned a copy of office and started sending it out to people saying it was from Microsoft?
Just curious, since the SIPRnet isn't attached to the internet at large, how exactly is MS software supposed to phone home. At best, it'll just get a time out when trying to connect to a specific IP address... at worst, it will connect to another computer on the SIPRnet, which won't know what to do with the incomming traffic, and will probably just ignore it.
Really no chance of this being an issue.. and the software in question is meant to be used on the employee's personal home computer, not their machines at work.
And honestly, I would hope that anyone with access to the secure side would know better than to install anything without commander's approval...
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
The sad part about that is that such things have been abused to the point where you can't even offer a basic kindness. Not that I disagree with the rules you work under, it just makes me sick to think that the companies who abused the system have created regulations that stifle even basic human decency.
This whole article thread, while increasing my respect for our military decision makers, has decreased my respect for our cultural addiction with money. Not that it could be decreased much more without becoming non-existent.
Sigh.
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Bleah. This is what passes for +5 Funny on Slashdot? Say what you like about Microsoft's business practices, I hope and trust no one here sincerely wishes Bill Gates bodily harm, or even thinks it's particularly funny.
Really? No differences at all? Don't tell that to my international students who try to send documents from their versions to ours! Also, don't tell that to millions of Publisher users either. The newer versions have ALWAYS broken things in older projects.
.DOC 'format'. Remember old versions of Works? What about the abortion that was Office 95? Hmmm. Don't want to discuss THAT do we?
And true XML support is only available in the 'Professional' version. Gotta keep everyone onboard you know.
Besides all of this, MS only has themselves to blame for fracturing the
Five years. Please keep in mind that it is ONLY five years. Many of my teachers have documents far older than that. As long as MS insists on keeping their proprietary format secret the compatibility will only get worse.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Probably there are even more worried that these employees receive the free copy, recognize that they cannot install it on the computer at work, and take it home.
When companies send bottles of wine or packages of delicatessen, they also don't expect the goods to be consumed at the workplace.
Fighting Free software with free software.
(Okay, I know they are two different types of free; hence the capitalization).
I guess value is relative. I was speaking to the fact that regular office is close to $499 whilst the academic version is far less than that.
Of course it pales next to StarOffice at $79 (or even OOo which is free), but I was speaking of MS to MS comparisons.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
If back-office systems administrators are being killed in a hypothetical attack, then there are bigger problems to worry about than getting email running again. Could you have chosen a little less hysterical of an example to support your point? "Servicemen will DIE if they use Linux!" sounds vaguely trollish.
===----===
Together, we will drive the rats from the tundra.