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The Only Way Microsoft Can Die is by Suicide

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a-friday-without-cringely-is-like-a-friday-without-bagels dept.

Bitseeker writes "Robert X. Cringley's latest article is online. He opens with: 'When I wrote last week about my conclusion that the legal system -- any legal system -- is unequipped to change Microsoft's monopolistic behavior, I had no idea that within 24 hours, Sun Microsystem would be throwing in the towel, trading its so-called principles for $1.95 billion in cash. So I guess I was right. Only now, a few thousand readers out there expect me to blithely produce an answer to the problem of what to do to bring Microsoft into the civilized world. Well, I say it can't be done.'"

3 of 1,002 comments (clear)

  1. The Only Way Microsoft Can Die is by Suicide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Only Way Microsoft Can Die is by Suicide

    So is there anything we can do to help?

  2. well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I for one welcome our old microsoft overlords.

    afterall, can you imagine how difficult it would be to write 10 different versions of the same virus! agh! it would be horrible!

  3. Re:Public Awareness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think a previous slashdotter summed it up best...
    Is Linux good enough for your Mom?

    Somewhere in Linux-land, a phone rings....

    Hello? Oh, hi mom.

    Yeah, I can help you install a program on your computer. What do you want to install?

    Oh, cool. Have you downloaded it? Good job. OK, open up a terminal.... it's the command line interface, where you type commands.

    Where did you save the file? You don't remember? Hmm. Just type "cd". Now type "ls". Do you see the file name?

    Great! OK, type "tar -zxf "

    It didn't work? What does it say? OK. What is the name of the file you downloaded? Oh, well, that is a bzip file, not a tar and gzipped file. So type the same thing as before, but use "bzip2" instead of "tar".

    What? Why didn't it work? Oh, it doesn't have the same syntax. Crap. Go to the man page. Oh, man stands for manual. Type "man bzip2". What does it say?

    (20 minutes later)

    OK, now we have uncompressed the files you need. No, not yet. Type "./configure" No, it's OK, it is figuring out what kind of computer and software you have.

    OK, now type "make" OK, call me back when it is done.

    (15 minutes later)

    OK, now type "make install" What? Why not? What does it say? No, not that. Oh, wait, you have to be root. It is an administrator user. Because not just everyone can install programs, for security reasons. Look, just change to the admin user by typing "su". OK, now enter the root password. I DON'T KNOW! You mean you don't know your root password?

    (10 minutes later)

    Mom, you should NOT use the dog's name as the password. Because it is insecure! Nevermind. Just type "make install". There. Now it is installed.

    No, there is no icon, you have to type the name of program to run it. Type it. What? I don't know, what was the name of the binary after you compiled it? A binary file is a program you run. You compiled it when you typed "make". Hmm, let's look in the Makefile. Type "vi Makefile". What do you mean it is blank? Oh, wait. Use capital M. Type ":r Makefile" with a capital M.

    OK, now you are in vi, the most powerful editor ever. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU PREFER EMACS!!!!