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GNU/Linux Clears Gov't Procurement Hurdles
Sam Hiser writes "Tom Adelstein makes some sound if subtle points about where GNU/Linux really is in the government space -- not far enough. With OpenOffice.org and Mozilla (Firefox) now popular harbingers of file format freedom and browser security on Windows, he says, there is hope that public mindshare is catching up with reality; and that the 'Microsoft Two-Step: Shrug & Reboot' will soon be a thing of the past.
Adelstein, in his column today in Linux Journal, discusses the significant advances made by GNU/Linux and its achievement of Common Criteria certification for government and enterprise use in a world where Microsoft still dominates in mindshare and governmental purchase orders."
...is so 1998. XP and 2K aren't unstable, as much as you'd like to believe they are. I've tried a slew of Linux distros, I spend about 10% of my time in them vs. Windows, and I 'shrug and reboot' more times in Linux.
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
Mmmmmmmmmm....bacon.
If you find this post offensive, don't read it! THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING! I am what I am because of how apes behave.
And the version change and new features only makes it more so.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Just curious, how came we don't have stories about people using Linux and switching to windows?
I don't want to troll but the question simlpy begs itself. Considering the majority of people here are still hooked up on windows, it's surprising that moved-to-linux stories are quite popular.
I mean, if the damn thing is already too superior, why aren't everyone switching now?
But please don't give me the 'switching cost' argument. It's simply not valid. You run a bussness, you plan estimates in YEARS ahead. Switching cost is less than licencing cost for any long term business planning. Plus the ability to (f)ix your own tools is the most powerfull leverage you can have.
Government can't switch to Linux or even free software, people say. Well, such has done München (Munich you say) here in my country. I am professional involved with some of people who are with the project involved, and it is as they are accorded going "smooth move, exlax" as you Americans say.
Read journal when you are not understand
... but what about GNU/Linux's use in the military? For example, a member of the Los Angelas LUG resigned over the use of Linux in the military.
Do we really want the government using open source? We really dont want to limit it, because that would be a limit on the freedom, but do we want it being used for evil? Perplexing!
Enough already.
Let me get this straight... The people who are responsible for wars, enforce laws against victimless "crimes", suffocate the economy with regulations, tax just about everything that moves and just in general make nuisances and parasites of themselves... are now using a more robust, secure and all around technologically superior operating system more and more frequently? Why is this a good thing? Shouldn't we be trying to make *them* use Windows?
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I havent had an unintentional reboot since I started using Win XP. This is zealotry at its best. I personally wish that people would quit with the "Windows must die for Linux to succeed" crap. I like them both and they both have their purposes. I dont care how great Linux gets, I WILL NOT QUIT USING WINDOWS, tney are tools to be used sometimes in conjunction together sometimes by themselves. Windows will never die, Believe it oir not there are a lot of people that like Windows. The two major Operating Systems I see for the future are going to be Linux and Windows. Windows is here to stay, get used to it.
A lot of funding is going to the DOD for defense so people in those organizations have a lot of money to work with. I have a summer internship at a base and they bought me a $4400 setup for Pro/E work. Saving a little money isn't a high priority. Also, pro/e needs windows.
I think linux will become popular with foreign governments before it becomes popular in the US. Like I've always thought, linux can be harder to setup, but it works better once you have it set up. IT departments probably wouldn't like it because it takes their job away by not having to wipe windows' ass every 15 minutes and requires them to learn something new.
When have you had to restart in Linux? I can probably count on my hand the number of times I've had to restart due to it being necessary.... one... during install... "Now its time to boot into your new Debian system".
Windows? "Thanks for installing ProgramX, please reboot your computer to use it"
If you're restarting a lot in Linux, you're doing something VERY wrong.
It's important to realize that the government and government workers have more important things to do and to be working on than dealing with computer problems. Now, Linux doesn't have all that many problems if set up correctly and everything else. The unfortunate part is that most folks who work in government aren't going to want to have to learn Linux. That's just my guess, after all. I could be wrong.
With Windows, if something goes wrong, a "shrug and reboot" will take place. If something's still wrong, a work order or whatever else will be put in, and the problem will be fixed. Now, here's the kicker: when things have to get fixed, does the government want to have to pay for a bunch of people who are like the character Nick Burns from SNL?
Perhaps government offices feel like Microsoft and associated tech support teams are more friendly and cooperative. I think it would be nice if the government switched over to Linux. It would avoid some security issues like when Republican staffers "broke into" Democratic bulletin boards and published internal memoranda.
Oh well, what do I know? I'm more about government than technology anyway, but I don't have a problem with switching over to Linux. Maybe the powers that be do.
Script kiddes would take advantage of idiots running old versions of programs. Do you really think that a script kiddie would be able to find vulnerabilties of a program faster than HUNDREDS of skillful hackers? I highly doubt that. So yes, the sheeple are still vulnerable, but people who are up to date on security updates wouldn't be affected, unlike the "security through obscurity" model.
We were formed about two months ago, and our charter was to figure out the rollout of the following :
1) Samba, to better manage file and print servers... We currently use Windows products, and really dissatisfied.
2) Apache. We currently use windows, and are REALLY dissatisfied
3) Linux Cluster for doing distributed computations (there is no windows alternative, and many of us learned these techniques in graduate school and are appalled they aren't available to us)
The institutional constipation on changing these things is utterly appalling... Here is an example:
Prior to this groups formation I tried to get permission to use R to replace S, as most of the people who use it, do so infrequently, and dont' really justify the cost... I was told, by boilerplate, "freeware is written by 'hackers' and is riddled with security holes..." when I CCd a letter to the then director of R, asking for advice, I was read the riot act by the people who make such decisions...
Anyone who's used it for anything complicated knows this.
How is GNU/Linux different than run-of-the-mill old regular Linux?
GNU/Linux means GNU problems
OP Microsoft still dominates in mindshare and governmental purchase orders
I thought that once a court found a business to be crooks, the government stopped doing business with it.
gewg_
I hate to be the one to have to break it to you... But if a bad guy has physical access to your box to boot it from a live CD, it doesn't matter if you have Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX, FreeDOS or KonTiki on the darned hard disk.
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Two words: BIOS password.
Home to 3 trillion people
The world population is estimated to be between 6 and 7 billion.
I am a viral sig. Please help me spread.
1. Open Case
2. Pop out CMOS Battery
3. Pop in CMOS Battery
4. Close Case
No more BIOS password.
A couple of months ago I decided it was time to try out a differnt distro (from Mandrake 9.1), so I downloaded gentoo. Well, I've grown impatient in my old age, so no, I did not want to read all 50ish pages of the installation instructions, so I read the quick start and got stuck in.
:-)
When it failed to boot, I shrugged, rebooted to XP and downloaded Fedora Core 1. Installed fine, booted - no support for my modem. Okay, shrug, reboot to XP, download the packages, reboot to Fedora. Ah; no NTFS module, not even read support. Try installing the kernel sources to compile it, and it wants to install another 400 meg of tenuously-related crap along with them; not on this small a partition, no. Shrug, reboot to XP, download Mandrake 9.2.
The morals of this story:
a) I can't remember the last time I "shrugged and rebooted Windows", yet in this particular week, various Linux distros caused me no end of hassles
b) I should've stuck with 'drake
Seriously though, it's getting tiresome. Sometimes I could almost believe that the people most vocally bashing Windows are the ones who haven't actually used it in years, and are basing their vitriol on out of date experiences.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
A few more words: short the battery out, replace some chips...or just move the HDDs to another machine and go mad :)
Then put in Knoppix. But couldn't I also write to a windows partition and modify any config files or copy data off it as well?
People who are well versed in Windows have a better time with it.
:)), partly it's a matter of user interface.
... maybe it no longer appears in XP, I'm a bit behind, can't recall.)
.dll file, and Norton's utilties pop up another dialogue box saying that some minor file other is missing, and instructs the user to remove and reinstall the Norton package. In all, four error messages pop up on boot, and the owner, not into computers except as things on which to write / check email / *use*, doesn't know how to resolve them, so ... they remain, and the computer seems to work.
:) [Much better than the opposite situation, which seems to be more common.] The laptops's owner showed me this, to ask me why it said that (on the basis that I know something about computers), but as usual I had to point out that I know little about computers and far less than that about Windows ;)
... could be the hardware, or maybe the software is primarily to blame -- all I know is that the combination fails a lot!)
;)
I see a fair number of people's Windows machines (not a huge number, but computers belonging to friends / acquaintances / family members), and in my limited sample, most of them provide evidence for the "Windows is Flaky" point of view. (And I'm mostly ignorant of Windows, fall into the same category.)
Partly this is the fault of malicious (or merely thoughtless) 3rd party software (there are people who seem to think that Microsoft is basically a real-life Virtucon intent only on ransom money, impaling infants on pikes, etc, but I am not one of these
(How many Windows login screens are there out there with a blank password that the user would just as soon skip altogether, but has gotten used to hitting return to get past? Of the motley Windows installs I've seen, I'd say 90% of the users have just gotten used to clicking through that screen
Past the login screen, there are cryptic error messages all over the place that non-guru Windows users just shrug at and click past. Maybe they shouldn't, but that's the time/effort decision many users have come to accept. Whenever I work on Windows machines, I tend to agree.
Case in point: For the last few days, I was using a borrowed laptop -- wireless connection worked only with the one I was using, and my housemate can't find the documentation for the wireless box. (More complicated that that, but suffice it to say it was easier to just borrow.) On startup, Windows pops up an error message about a missing
Trying to bring up his wireless card's special driver software (privded by SBC) tells the user that the access point cannot be found or is not connected -- even though in fact, it seems to be working fine
(That machine, a Dell Inspiron, a few years old, is running Windows 2000 Pro, crashes frequently
So far, in my experience, all operating systems suck ["'PC load letter?' WTF does *that* mean?!" is a universal experience] but I've had far happier experiences with Linux and other Unixy operating systems (and with the pre-X Mac OS as well) than with Windows. Personality, prior experience, expectations, aesthetics all play into it. In matters of taste, there can be no dispute
wrt to the claim (made frequently, and close to what you've said here) that under Windows "things just work, snap in a driver disk and click some arrows", I've found that to be a mixed bag when trying to help my dad install software while on family visits. Some things (scanner, one printer) worked fine, just click-click-click; other things he's had and tried repeatedly, and with telephone tech help, to install, with no luck. His color laser printer, he *never* got to work under Windows 98, and eventually reached a tech who confided that many other people had the same experience, with no solution in sight. [Under Windows XP, it finally works as expected -- Yay! -- but I was somewhat smug in pointing out it was supp
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
You forgot: "I'm George W. Bush and I approved this message." :)
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Good. Microsoft needs to learn that Windows users aren't clueless about how to properly secure and run a computer.
Ok, that was 19 words.
That's a funny name for it. I've never had to get out of my chair to reboot.
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
Actually on Mac OS X it does... It can encrypt your data on the fly. If you boot from a livecd you can't touch the data without a password to de-encrypt it.
I am a system administrator working for the U.S federal government. At my site 10% of the servers I administer are Red Hat and 7% are Unix Which in comparison to all of the computers in my unit is less than 1% pathetic I know. Honestly the windows servers running server 2003 do not need to be booted any more often than the amy other server running a diffrent OS I administer. The military does contract a large portion of it computing to out side agencies and they have to take the lowest bid with comparable fnctionality. The majority of contractors feel more comfortable working with window. The majority of application the military use are custom built and from what I have seen the quality of the windows based applications are much higher than those of other operating systems, Which is usually not the case for the rest of the world. As an administrator I know the people with the money are more likely to select a product that has a nice looking user interface and is easy to use. They could care less how ofter they have to reboot the system or if you could do more in fact it makes it that much essayer for them. Something goes wrong they simply reboot and go get some coffee and come back, and if there problem is not fixed they go find a admin (which is so annoying and why I work behind a cypher lock) bottom line Windows is more Idiot proof of as my coworkers like to say Army Proof.
...and while we have butted heads in the past, I still have a *great* measure of respect for him. He is as brillant a guy as he is complex. I'm not easily impressed and Tom does impress me. I say all this because, Tom is great at spotting trends. He's great at analysis. Best of all, he actually has enough business contacts to get the results of his analysis into the right hands to make it reality.
Don't underestimate what this man says.
That's cool.
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The Hivemind's Linux censorship campaign continued today as several comments criticizing blatant inaccuracies in an article were modded down. Only the latest move in a years long campaign by the Hivemind, this mod down continues a proud tradition of Linux fanboy censorship on Slashdot. Oh well, time for another IP ban...
Everything changes when the attacker has physical access to your hardware (as others have pointed out).
The Common Criteria is an internationally-recognized standard, so the U.S. gov't would recognize the German EAL3 augmented evaluation of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server V8 that just finished up in January 2004.
Really, it's almost free it's so cheap. It's cheaper than the posted prices of Redhat Enterprise. I think my org paid $150 for Windows 2003. It's easy, people are used to it, it works, it's cheap. Hard to get a reason to change.
Vote Quimby!
I hate to break it to you but I have AIX on my S390. I'd be glad to let you try to boot it with your live CD.
... and here's why. Simple economics. It costs huge sums to pay all those MS folk to keep developing Windows.
IBM has figured out that the OS is a commodity... and a proprietary OS is a just a tool to lock in application producers/providers... so they are actively driving the value out of the OS market.
Microsoft will NOT be able to survive as the dominant OS if it has to pay hundreds and hundreds of developers to do what Linux developers do more or less for free.
Even Apple, which has cut costs by using BSD at the core, still has huge built in costs. But they are smart... they are using their OS budget to develop a competitive advantage at the interface level.
As Linux becomes the numerically dominant OS worldwide it will draw a growing number of application writers.... snowball effect... just as "everyone" writes for Windows now, there will come a day when people can't afford not to write for Linux and Windows... and not too long after that, a day when people will look at the shrinking Windows market share and say, as they do of Apple now... hey maybe will get around to writing for that someday...
MS can't... simply can't.... compete on cost at the basic OS level. They will therefore compete politicaly, legally, and every other way.
Now... you like Windows because it runs your apps? Hey, I like it for the same reason. I run XP and SuSE.
SuSE is definitely more of a pain in the butt... no Dreamweaver.... no Photoshop CS... although I could go back to Photoshop 7 with codeweaver.... I'm still trying to figure out how to install programs from source.... it's a pain in the butt every time. But look at IBMs strategy and you will see why Window's share will be about the size of Apples's market share in 10 years.
None of the programs I run in SuSE ever give me trouble... but I don't run Dreamweaver which is the main thing that is always locking up in XP. Neither ever locks up fully... although I have had XP grow unstable and funky, leading me to reboot... and of course I reboot for some installs. No big... I'm so square I turn off my computer every night. But all in all XP is still easier to use... and DOOMED.
Linux and open source sucks the profit out of the OS. MS will NOT be able to afford to compete with the cost of linux development. They are selling something that used to require a paid army, and now needs only an unpaid army to develop and improve.
As a result Windows will die.... unless they simply purchase the governments and court systems of the world outright, or with the help of their corporate partners, and outlaw free software and, not to get too overheated about it, freedom of thought and communication itself.
These arguments get old after a while.
Reasons why linux isn't ready for the desktop:
Installing Software:
In Windows: Double click exe file
In Linux: Unpack source code, run configure, run make, run make install and pray that you have the right versions of various libs. Yeah, debian may have apt and redhat may have rpm, but the setup files that run on windows are universal, and install to ANY version of windows.
Changing settings for software:
Windows: Open convienent settings dialog, press apply or simply press ok to close the dialog when done, changes are applied.
Linux: Edit cryptic config files, restart app
Installing Drivers:
Windows: Double click the setup file, worse case scenario, open device manager and do things that way or right click on the inf file and hit install.
Linux: compile the driver, possibly recompile the linux kernel due to a missing dependency. use insmod to install the driver. Edit several config files to get the driver to load. Even IF you get this far driver may not work because the kernel is 0.00.000001th of a revision off.
You can argue it's the software developer's fault, but forcing a user to compile EVERYTHING they use is a waste of time and no user will ever use an operating environment that promotes such primitive behavior.
Flame me all you want, i'm one of over a billion windows users, i also use linux, it has it's places (Servers) but it's NOT ready for the desktop, no matter what you may say/think.
The day you can install and run apps with the click of an icon on ANY distro, the day you can edit ALL aspects of your system via a nice GUI, will be the day that linux stands a chance.
"Get real, people. With the security that Linux has where any bozo can sneak up behind the machine, start it up with Knoppix, and have access to most sensitive data, there's no way I want a single dollar to be spent on Linux systems from taxpayers' money." Tsk, those tricksy linux hobbitses. Guess what, they've got Linux reading NTFS partitions these days. Even Knoppix. Now not even the NSA's top-secret ultra-secure NT4 Box with the PGP backdoor algorithm and Lee Harvey Oswald's payroll slips on it is safe from those commie terrorist unamerican linux hackers these days....
"One of InterAct's core competencies is converting legacy Cobol system applications to .NET applications."
From the ashes into the fire... :P
I have to admit that I am tired of ppl knocking each other for speaking out. There are shortcomings in Linux just as there are in any OS. Personally, I agree with zawinski who said something like "Linux sucks, but it sucks the least". We simply have to look at all this stuff and see what we can do better.
BTW, I do KDE and Linux coding.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I think using the Encrypting File System in 2k/xp option would protect your data, if the computer was a domain member and you had the password cache disabled. That way you'd have to contact the domain controller to log on. You'd have to do something about your locally cached copy of the EFS certificate, but I think if you encrypt the whole user profile as well, you'd be in good shape. A roaming profile with a logoff script to delete all cached content might work too. Notebooks would be worse, but you could use a smartcard and get the certificate off the computer altogether.
Vote Quimby!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I hate to break it to you, but I have worked on AIX on the S390. If you will let me have access to your mainframe, I will be happy to show you all about smugness.
Hmm, you obviously haven't heard of encrypted partitions have you? I hope you are not a 'security consultant'...
Oh well, what the hell...
Damn...
All that, and nobody got on my ass about how to spell Contiki.
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Hmm, you obviously haven't heard of encrypted partitions have you?
Wow! Imagine a Beowulf cluster of people who think MS has a monopoly on encrypted file systems!
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They upgraded to NT4???
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Apple has made unix work nicely as a desktop OS for many people with OS X. All that linux needs is to have a nice GUI and features made with ease-of-use in mind. Part of the problem is that a lot of the time, linux programs are made for people who are very tech savvy. If they were made for 'regular users' (like mac os x apps) then we probably wouldn't be having this argument.
If you're a power windows user the learning curve is going to be frustrating....
Most work computing takes place with a single program that's all the employee has to interface with -- ppl, they're not going to miss even the start menu being in the wrong place since, it'll probably be turned off. Just like ATMs and video poker, nobody cares what the OS is.
The only commodity version of MS products are pirated versions. No organization is going to waste time on partially compatible software when they can steal the real thing for nothing.
Why are you still trolling, Milo?
You are not German.
You barely know German. I have an old post of yours as proof,
Give it up please - you're just not that convincing.
Had to chime in on this one... This seems to be a common problem amongst all competitive walks of life: business, sports... operating system holy wars. The "Microsoft Two Step..." comment, as well as the whole attitude that the original article seems to subscribe to (people don't buy open source because their dumb or brainwashed) is unfortunate and short sighted. I use Microsoft's products all of the time. Our company develops on Visual Studio, I play their games and, on balance, I expect a good product when it has their name on it (anything over 3.0, that is :).
But I'm typing this in a form presented to me by the fine folks at Mozilla because it's better than what Microsoft has.
If I may be so bold, most open source projects lack:
Packaging: People feel more comfortable being marketed to. They like to feel as though what they are buying comes from a plan and a vision. This holds true for open source, just like traditional business models. Why does Red Hat consistently out strip Debian? Is it better? For that matter, why does Linux get all of the attention in the server market when OpenBSD is arguably better suited? [I suggest that the Linux project's image better because of its story, and thus provides a better package in the minds of the consumer]
Hassle: The packages/installers for open source projects are very often broken, incomplete, incompatible or undocumented. When they are documented, often the text speaks to other programmers, and not to the likely user. ex: "If you have questions, read the man page for blablabla..." My mom would not know what a man page is.
Nobody likes to do real work: Most projects are organized by and developed by people who love what they are doing. Consequently, the real work rarely gets the attention it needs while the fun work gets over developed by 3 or four different forks (how many pretty window managers do we need again??). That's also why too often a good manual is replaced by 10 ham-fisted How-To's.
Applications are not stable: Say what you will about Microsoft, but they've had enough time, focused on the programming projects and problems at hand to make a reasonably stable system. I haven't seen a BSOD in well over a year. While it is undeniable true that a well maintained and administrated Red Hat distro will run stability-circles around Microsoft, not many people really understand how to administrate and maintain a system as complex and capable as Red Hat. For many, that flexibility is an asset. For non-computer nerds without Orange Crush stains on their t-shirt, we like s**t to work. Which brings me to my last point...
Most people like to do real work: We don't sit at the keyboard, glowing with self importance that we're not stupid enough to use inferior systems (I gave that up when I sold my Amiga 4000). We choose our systems because we're familiar with them, most people write software for them and we don't mind that we're supporting the soul crushing dark-force that is Microsoft.
Mozilla wins because it's a great product that's much better than the alternatives. For me, LaTeX wins over FrameMaker for the very same reason.
Open source projects will gain more ground when distro's hire people to do more packaging, marketing and documentation. People like to buy products. It's that simple. They feel like their getting value. Mozilla is a web browser, and the price for those is $0.00. Operating systems and major projects must be Whole Products with backers. Linux's recent headway in niche areas always bears this out. [IBM's successes, Red Hat, Evolution]
The whole point of my rambling is this: those who love Linux and the open source projects that it represents would do well to see Microsoft as a savvy and organized competitor and not as an evil foe who tells lies to get ahead.
Had to chime in on this one...
This seems to be a common problem amongst all competitive walks of life: business, sports... operating system holy wars.
The "Microsoft Two Step..." comment, as well as the whole attitude that the original article seems to subscribe to (people don't buy open source because their dumb or brainwashed) is unfortunate and short sighted.
I use Microsoft's products all of the time. Our company develops on Visual Studio, I play their games and, on balance, I expect a good product when it has their name on it (anything over 3.0, that is :).
But I'm typing this in a form presented to me by the fine folks at Mozilla because it's better than what Microsoft has.
If I may be so bold, most open source projects lack:
Packaging: People feel more comfortable being marketed to. They like to feel as though what they are buying comes from a plan and a vision. This holds true for open source, just like traditional business models. Why does Red Hat consistently out strip Debian? Is it better? For that matter, why does Linux get all of the attention in the server market when OpenBSD is arguably better suited? [I suggest that the Linux project's image better because of its story, and thus provides a better package in the minds of the consumer]
Hassle: The packages/installers for open source projects are very often broken, incomplete, incompatible or undocumented. When they are documented, often the text speaks to other programmers, and not to the likely user. ex: "If you have questions, read the man page for blablabla..." My mom would not know what a man page is.
Nobody likes to do real work: Most projects are organized by and developed by people who love what they are doing. Consequently, the real work rarely gets the attention it needs while the fun work gets over developed by 3 or four different forks (how many pretty window managers do we need again??). That's also why too often a good manual is replaced by 10 ham-fisted How-To's.
Applications are not stable: Say what you will about Microsoft, but they've had enough time, focused on the programming projects and problems at hand to make a reasonably stable system. I haven't seen a BSOD in well over a year. While it is undeniable true that a well maintained and administrated Red Hat distro will run stability-circles around Microsoft, not many people really understand how to administrate and maintain a system as complex and capable as Red Hat. For many, that flexibility is an asset. For non-computer nerds without Orange Crush stains on their t-shirt, we like s**t to work. Which brings me to my last point...
Most people like to do real work: We don't sit at the keyboard, glowing with self importance that we're not stupid enough to use inferior systems (I gave that up when I sold my Amiga 4000). We choose our systems because we're familiar with them, most people write software for them and we don't mind that we're supporting the soul crushing dark-force that is Microsoft.
Mozilla wins because it's a great product that's much better than the alternatives. For me, LaTeX wins over FrameMaker for the very same reason.
Open source projects will gain more ground when distro's hire people to do more packaging, marketing and documentation. People like to buy products. It's that simple. They feel like their getting value. Mozilla is a web browser, and the price for those is $0.00. Operating systems and major projects must be Whole Products with backers. Linux's recent headway in niche areas always bears this out. [IBM's successes, Red Hat, Evolution]
The whole point of my rambling is this: those who love Linux and the open source projects that it represents would do well to see Microsoft as a savvy and organized competitor and not as an evil foe who tells lies to get ahead.
'tips hat to excellent troll.
Last I heard, "Shrug and Try Reinstalling" has replaced "Shrug and Reboot".
Could be true to some extent. I haven't used Windows regularly since 94-95-ish. So I tend not to talk too much about it. I'm in it for the freedom anyway.
However, the last time I actually needed Windows to do something for me, it didn't work....
I wanted some new firmware in my mobile phone, so I downloaded some stuff from Siemens, and ran their installer.
Windows XP BSODed on me, and seems to have been flaky since. It was my mother's laptop, but she has gotten so used to KDE now, she doesn't care.
So, it was the only time in ten years I actually needed it, and it BSODs... Makes it hard to believe when you're being told that it has improved over the years.... :-)
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
Perhaps his column was trimmed by an editor, but Mr Adelstein knows about the U. S. Courts switch to Red Hat in the server room, because he wrote about it last month.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
They can try the "Linux Two-Step: Shrug and Give Up".
I had the same problem on my mdk 9.2 install..try going into the "configure your computer" tool>System>DrakXServices and make sure you have acpi and acpid services enabled. If they're not listed, go to Software Management>RPMDrake-install and install acpi. If acpi is installed, and the service enabled, and it still doesn't work, try changing the settings in BIOS for plug-and-play/acpi. Also, take a look at your SysV-Init for any anomalies. One other thing that has caused this problem for me is some antivirus software..I tried unsuccesfully to get my computer to power down when I had Antivir Workstation installed, even going through the SysV-Init configuration. Seems like (could be wrong here) the daemon(s) for the A/V wouldn't accept the shutdown/TERM message, and caused the machine to hang at powerdown. Hope that helps :).
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
I use Windows now only on the rare occasion that I need to run a game or two (I'm working on fixing that), or I need a very professional looking print job (my lexmark only works right under Windows). The only thing keeping my Windows/Linux ratio from reaching 50/50 is the bad parts of hardware support for both. WinXP stopped supporting my CD-RW drive, Linux hates my printers. Both really need to support hardware better (both old and new) before people can be really happy.
Good programmers drink beer to relieve job stress.
Great programmers drink hard liquor and work best hungover.
Haven't been reading Slashdot very carefully?t -was-conv icted+consent-decree
Missed all the news last Autumn?
http://www.google.com/search?&q=microsof
gewg_
Perhaps the military adopting Linux is part of the plan for Linux's world domination? ;)
I suspect that there will be war whether or not Linux is used by the military. But by using the best, most reliable software for the military, maybe we can cut down on the costs of war (in terms of money, time, and human lives).
With the security that Linux has where any bozo can sneak up behind the machine, start it up with Knoppix, and have access to most sensitive data, there's no way I want a single dollar to be spent on Linux systems from taxpayers' money.
Knoppix now reads NTFS partitions, too.
This troll sound more like an excuse from Billy Gates why Windows can't boot live off of CD just like Linux. "Uhhh, yeah, it's a security feature! That's it; a security feature!"
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