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ESR's Halloween XI -- Get the FUD

Posted by timothy on from the strange-arguments dept.

dave writes "In the newest Halloween Document (mirror), Eric Raymond analyzes Microsoft's 'Get The Facts' road show. The anti-Linux arguments they are using now -- and, even more, the arguments they're *not* using -- reveal how desperate Microsoft is getting. He explains why he thinks we need to focus more on government adoptions, and predicts serious ugliness during the next year."

5 of 771 comments (clear)

  1. ESR, again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Sorry there, but besides Fud, what has ESR brought to the Open Source community ?

  2. Say it ain't so! by MSFanBoi · · Score: 0, Troll

    Eric Raymond speaking out against MS! Say it ain't so!

    For those of us who work in corporate environments, Linux is FAR from free. I don't know of any major company that can go without some level of support, and that's not going to be free folks...

  3. You're clueless--here's why by bonch · · Score: 0, Troll

    All it takes is someone to exploit any of the kinds of exploits and flaws listed at Linux Security. What's that? You actually believed Linux was magically secure from everything just because it has things like permissions? Give me a fucking break. That website lists all the weekly security flaws Slashdot never, ever reports on which would be taken up by every random script and e-mail attachment out there.

    There is a myriad of ways of getting into a Linux system like that, and you better believe people would find them out if Linux ever got more than 1% usage based on Google Zeitgeist (in comparison, OS X has 5%). Consider a wide user base to be one big beta test. In that sense, it's not surprising Windows holes have been found and subsequently patched. You might even make the argument that because Windows has been so much more aggressively tested, it might be less of a risk than if Linux suddenly had that market share overnight.

    If Linux is this golden child of security, how is it GNU, GNOME, Debian, Gentoo, Savannah, and more were all hacked last year in the span of six months? Oh, I forgot, we've swept all that under the rug around here.

    Hell, you think that kernel exploit that got patched a week ago wouldn't already be making the rounds right now? Normal users wouldn't be upgrading their "kernel" like Linux geeks do. Look at how many people already don't run Automatic Updates under XP.

    Sorry, but you're full of shit.

  4. Re:ESR on the attack again by black+mariah · · Score: 0, Troll
    In case you haven't figured this out yet, ESR doesn't give a fuck about a 'unified movement'. He's just another impish douchebag that wants things his way or no way at all.

    No one thinks the term "Free Software" is a good one, the issue has always been that there's nothing better. I can't use Open Source since the term doesn't mean the same thing.
    I've never understood why the fuck everyone doesn't just use the term "Software Libre" instead of "Free Software". You might have to explain what libre means, but it's WAY THE FUCK easier to explain than "Well, I mean free as in speech. Not like beer. No, see, you can use the code any way you want... yeah, you might have to pay for it... but that's not the free I mean..."

    Much lesser foreign words have found their way into common English usage, why not this one?
    --
    'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
  5. Re:"Freed" software? by soloport · · Score: 0, Troll

    Slashdot! Point out my idiocy. I can take it.

    You're an idiot.