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Microsoft Can't DRM Docs Fast Enough
grcumb writes "As part of the DoJ Anti-trust settlement, Microsoft was ordered to provide freely available documentation for its communications protocols. InfoWorld is reporting that not only are they late in delivering the required APIs, but it's because they want to convert everything to the read-only Web Archive (MHT) format, which can only be viewed in MSIE. InfoWorld reports that, "In July, Microsoft said it would complete revisions of the documentation required by the court in the autumn, a season generally reckoned to include the months of September, October and November in North America, but may now have to extend work on a beta or test version of the new documentation into December...." So we have to wait longer for a format that makes the content harder for developers (developers! developers!) to use. Maybe they didn't read the documentation ..."
Duh! Being Microsoft, they had to make things harder for developers to use. After all, if they made it easy, it would be a Macintosh.
I am shocked
The DoJ should make 'em turn the docs into manpages. You know, just to piss Billy off.
Well thats ok then. Now where's that format? Oh www.microsoft.com/download/mht-fileformat.mht .....
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O make me a mask
It could be worse, they might make them available only in a satanic text, and only to people who pledge their first born to Lord Gates
Please, this is Microsoft we're talking about here.
At one point, they thought 'When hell freezes over' or 'When the cubs win the world series' was a specific enough deadline for when they'd explain the inner workings of Windows.
Just as its a shame that Firefox doesn't support Active X. WTF are those Mozilla clod's working on anyway? I want more bug ridden features, not a stable browser.
Don't we just need one machine on the net somewhere to which we can...
Not if it gets Slashdotted.
I think you mispelled ``sick''.
See what I've been reading.
we're gonna need you to go ahead and implement everything in MHT. So if you could just go ahead and get the docs on how to read MHT docs... they're on our web site in MHT format... yeahhhh - that'd be great. And we'll need the TPS reports by the fall, too.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
You can use the RMS SDK to build a shared document library that can protect and deliver RMS-protected documents on demand.
I was unaware that Mr. Stallman had contributed such a thing to Microsoft. Funny that I couldn't find a link at gnu.org.
You can tell what kind of attitude people have by the units of time they use with deadlines. A rough translation guide:
"I'll have it done in a second": means "you have me by my balls; if I don't get my paycheck, I'm getting evicted, my girlfriend will leave me for Stu, and I'll suffer from erectile dysfunction. Oh, and Stu is the neighborhood stray."
"Give me a couple of hours" means "It'll really take a couple of minutes, but I found some great pr0n which, quite frankly, is higher on my priorities list. And you see, my entire family died in a horrible sewing accident and I've inherited a few hundred bucks so I'm not scheduled to become desparate for my paycheck for another few weeks."
"Sure. Next week okay?" means "Boy, aren't I glad I went freelance and can now charge by the hour! I _did_ bookmark that new ferris wheel pr0n site, didn't I..."
"You'll have it in a month and a half" means the same as the last one, but the person delivering the promise has now been freelancing for some time and is well aware of the outlandish deadlines one can deliver. Typically this kind of deadline is delivered in a falsetto faux-latin-lover accent.
"Can you wait till Autumn?" translates as "Go fuck yourselves - No wait, let us assist you in the process of your getting fucked."
Finally, "Some time in 20[07-99]" is reserved for Longhorn-specific press releases.
I sincerely hope this helps you.
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
Gatescorp can't find a way to translate them to HTML.
You've obviously never seen Brazil. Welcome to Information Retrieval
What does, Microsoft's childish actions or the whining that Microsoft's not sharing?
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
But have you seen the bloated HTML that MS Word creates? A fast workstation could take months! :D
Microsoft - The company that puts NDA into Monday (and Sunday) ...
So, it takes Microsoft years to convert docs from one format to another... Perhaps instead of using e.g. some simple script they've hired a guy who spends whole days clicking, dragging & dropping. Definitely The Microsoft Way.
I would have though that "If you give a pig a pancake" would have been the more appropriate book reference when talking about monopolies :)
Isn't that the standard EULA?
In addition, changing format for personal use is deemed fair use by the law at least where I live (Norway) - ie. I don't mind Microsoft spending lots of money on loosing a legal battle with me :)
Norway was just outlawed under the DMCA, as it can be used to circumvent copyright protecion. Expect the nuclear strike tomorrow.
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
Dude, you give a browser a cookie.
My mouse just eats batteries.
~Idarubicin