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Microsoft Sued Over WGA
Hope Thelps writes "The Seattle PI is reporting on a lawsuit being brought against Microsoft in response to their WGA spyware. Groklaw is also covering the story. Although there are a lot of similarities to Sony's rootkit, the actual harm done is less concrete. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out."
>> the actual harm done is less concrete...
No shit, there's no harm done at all.
1. WGA' semen cures cancer. Too bad he has AIDS.
2. WGA does not sleep. He lies awake in regret.
3. WGA is currently suing ABC, claiming Hope & Faith are trademarked names for his left and right breasts.
4. The chief export of WGA is diarrhea.
5. If you can see WGA, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may not realize how much he's actually aged.
6. WGA attempted to count to infinity. Backwards. He didn't know where to start.
7. WGA does not hunt because the word hunting implies the chance of success. WGA wanders around aimlessly with a gun.
8. WGA' blood type is AK-47. The gun. It is compatible only with bullets. Chuck Norris is full of holes.
9. WGA is 1/8th Grand Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man drives a fucking Jeep.
10. In fine print on the last page of the Farmers' Almanac it notes that annual rainfall figures do not include the tears shed by WGA, and the figures listed in the book are simply the closest anyone has gotten to subtracting out such overwhelming excess.
And I still don't like spyware. Thanks for reminding me why I don't boot Windows. Microsoft is a lot more tactful about it than you, but they're basically saying the same thing. Microsoft: -1 Flamebait, Troll, Spyware...
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
"Linux is not a viable replacement for Windows in all situations (especially on the desktop), if it were then it would have been coming preinstalled on home machines for a while now."
That's not really a logical conclusion. There are many factors in the decision of hardware vendors not preinstalling Linux on the PCs that they sell. The least of which is not Microsoft's use of its monopoly position to prevent that from happening.
"The zealots can make all the excuses they like: "you can play your Windows games with Wine", "ogg's are so much better than mp3's", "nautilus is way easier to use than explorer", etc, but Windows does do many of these things better."
Really? What?
"After doing an install I have to do extra work to get proper support for my NVidia card and be able to play mp3's (both of which required using a console)."
Maybe you should switch to a distro that is more geared for the desktop like Suse or Linspire? As I understand it Redhat has mainly sought to capture the server market. Linspire isn't my cup of tea but it comes with all the drivers that you mentioned. Oh and you can get PCs preinstalled with it as well.
"If I run a KDE app it takes about 5 times as long as a Gnome one to load."
If you don't like the time it takes for KDE apps to load then use the Gnome ones. Some of Microsoft's applications take a very long time to load. Microsoft tries to make it appear that they are faster using various tricks. Like preloading chunks so that not as much need be loaded when the user requests the application or bringing up multiple splash screens.
"I use WinXP as a desktop system and Linux for working on my Masters. That way I don't have to jump through hoops to play the few games."
Okay we agree on one thing. There currently isn't very many really kewl games written for linux. I have been a supporter of WineX for a number of years and frankly am disappointed. So yes, until companies start selling the kewl games on Linux Windows is still going to be the platform to use to play.
"I have, share files over a local network with my flatmate (who is also running XP) and run audio software like Soundforge and Acid. Why should I piss around with configuration files, downloading drivers, crossing my fingers and hoping apps run in Wine or putting up with half-pie open source attempts when Windows does all this flawlessly?"
Well back to disagreeing. My family has four computers including a home server. My server has our music collection on it and all computers have easy access using Jukebox or one of several other open source mp3/ogg players. These players are not "half-pie open source attempts." They are VERY professional and elligant applications. (Which I can't help think that you would know about if you really were a Linux user. Frankly you sound much more like a Microsoft shill to me.)
"Part of the problem is Microsoft's market share; why should people switch to an unfamiliar Linux environment when they are everyone else they know is already using a perfectly good operating system."
Right things should never change not ever, ever, ever. **cough stupid argument cough**
"The geeks may have a problem with the various DRM features of Windows, but the average Joe (the same guy who thinks downloading Bonzi Buddy is a good idea) doesn't give a shit."
Really? Most non-geeks that I talk to are not happy about having their fair use rights taken away.
"I think that whether we like or not, Linux is a geeks operating system and Windows is for all those who just want a computer in their living room for browsing teh interwebs, reading email, watching movies and burning cds."
That is just blatant FUD. Now I know you're just a Microsoft shill. Browsing the Internet, reading email, watching movies and burning cds is just as easily done using Linux as Windows. Linux is no longer just a "geek OS." This is just the kind of Microsoft FUD a Microsoft shill would spew.
The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
Let's see: Calling out unattended to an NTP server every day? Fine. Calling out unattended every day to McAfee/Symtantec/ClamAV/whatever to update your anti-virus? Fine. Calling out unattended every day to update your anti-spyware? Fine. Calling out unattended all the time to run your BitTorrent or P2P client? Fine. Calling out unattended every day to check for OSX/Debian/Windows updates? Fine. But calling out unattended to to make sure you're not a pirate? Gasp! Shock! Horror! OK, so maybe you didn't know it was calling home, per se, but you probably should have guessed.