Slashdot Mirror
Windows Genuine Advantage Servers Out
krewemaynard writes to let us know that Microsoft has been having major problems with its WGA servers since at least Friday evening. Quoting Ars: "Users of both Windows XP and Windows Vista were writing to say that they could not validate their installations using WGA, and one user even said that his installation was invalidated by the service... The Microsoft WGA Forums are full of problem reports, and Microsoft WGA Program Manager Phil Liu has acknowledged that there is a problem, and that MS is investigating." Update: 07/25 22:10 GMT by KD :Microsoft has identified and fixed the problem and posted instructions for anyone whose system mistakenly failed a WGA check. (The link posted earlier was to a 2006 article.)
Man can dream...
-- Sig down
is that they're calling the people that sell their software thieves. They are biting the hands that feed them. One of our customers bought a copy at Fry's, and when they called Microsoft about the problem, Microsoft accused Fry's of selling pirated software. Accusing the people that make money for you is a good way to kill a business.
Microsoft frequently shill online forums, they're even attacking the venerable ISO! From this Groklaw article:
So, this would seem like the ideal time to feed them some of their own medicine. Get over to the WGA forums and do some pro GNU+Linux astroturfing. Here was my message:
As long as you're polite and make a point it can only help the adoption of Free software. Show these people that we're not zealots and offer them a way out of the WGA doldrums! :)
I'm going to transform myself into a mighty hawk. Either that or I'll just go and work at Dixons, haven't decided yet.
JohninTN's contribution to that forum is just funny. He seems to think that people should just "calm down" when the functionality that they have paid (rather a lot of money) for suddenly doesn't work because of some MS boneheadedness. His attitude in this thread is quite amazing, in my opinion.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
Are you just horribly mis-informed, joking, trolling or shilling? The missus and I have been using GNU+Linux on our laptops, desktops and servers (2 laptops, 2 desktops, 1 home server and one dedicated web server) and have never compiled the Linux kernel. The only times I've ever bothered compiling anything is if I want cutting-edge, not-even-released-yet software, and what's wrong with that?
Here's a deal for you: when there is a single day where Microsoft don't cock things up, shill standards organsations or act as an abusive monopoly then there will be a single day on Slashdot without an anti-Microsoft story.
I'm going to transform myself into a mighty hawk. Either that or I'll just go and work at Dixons, haven't decided yet.
I actually had this happen to me:
- A Vista installation at a company I work with 'invalidated'.
- I called Microsoft.
- A person named Josh, who had quite an Indian accent as well as a speech impediment answered and after MUCH effort I provided the information required. (Please note I have the greatest respect for people of Indian decent as well as people with speech impediments but you can, I am sure, appreciate how this makes communication difficult.)
- A few minutes later he came back on and said that 'Microsoft is currently having computer problem' and please can I call back later.
In fairness, 2 days later the machine automatically revalidated but the whole thing was rather comedic.
]{
They'd just be creating a market for knockoff dongles. A real solution (for microsoft) would be to just accept the shitloads of cash they're making and stop thinking that they need to act like assholes when they're not rolling around in huge piles of it.
For the rest of us there's always the real solution of just not using it. It's been working out pretty well for me.
The Farewell Tour II
I never install copy protected software, since I feel that it validates my right to use the software that I have paid for.
If i was buying the software on a lease/maintenance agreement, things might be different, but Windows is VERY expensive, and rather poor quality. I know of no other server OS that needs frequent reboots to correct weird slowdowns, and strange resource leaks.
I am just glad that I switched to Linux when Microsoft went down the product activation route with Windows XP. They cleary think that their customers are criminals, and i'm sure most of their customers have a similar opinion of Microsoft for delivering substandard products and exercising criminally monopolistic practices.
Good ridance Microsoft. I don't miss you.
It's 2007. I use cutting edge software on Windows, to the point of daily builds. Never needed to compile one yet.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
Hmm, it also wasted at least two hours of my time when I tried to install a new system and activation would not work. I traced through countless routers before I finally figured that it must Microsoft that is a fault and not our firewalls - so I installed a hack. Thank god for The Pirate Bay...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Not a problem. Found a legit copy on eBay I could afford. Installed that over the pirated version. Not a problem.
Downloaded and installed the WWDC beta of 10.5. Not a problem.
Are we seeing a pattern here?
DRM, copy protection, vendor lock in, Genuine Advantage, Sony's rootkit fetish.
NONE of them work.
And when something like this which affects millions of legitimate users happens, what is end result that gives MS reason to ensure it doesn't happen again?
You go and buy their latest OS AGAIN!
Seriously, how many times are you going to let yourselves be fucked over by MS, before you switch to Linux or Mac or just sodding file class action suits against the bastards?
In Soviet Russia, YOU fuck over Operating System monopolies!
A court agreeing with Microsoft that you do not own your own computer you merely license it.
Framing this issue around inconvenience misses the more important underlying point. Your freedom to control your stuff matters. This incident is a harbinger of bad things; ostensibly Microsoft is trying to prevent illicit use yet chiefly adversely affects legal users. A system which denies users the freedom to control their data, their computer, and (as more of their life is conducted on their computer) their lives.
Digital Citizen
Isn't it interesting that the government doesn't consider systems like WGA a threat to national security?
The dangers of software monoculture are well known, now combine that with an authentication system the government has no control over. Once the entire Windows desktop marketshare (+90% of all desktops) is using a Windows OS featuring WGA, what's to stop criminals and terrorists from capturing the datacenters that house these servers and holding a major factor in world finance hostage?
I didn't realize WGA did periodic (constant?) checks on the system validity. I thought it was just a one-time check at installation (like entering the product ID on Win2K). That's hilarious that you can pay MS hundreds of dollar for the software, only to have it crippled when they screw up and accuse you of being a thief.
Why do people use that crap?
I just read Slashdot for the articles.
Hell the pile of semi working laptops I have sat here very from a powerbook 100 (still works) through a dell latitude ( I think a 166 Mhz processor) through to a High end HP laptop with a busted screen (runs headless).
But as for PCI video cards, they always come in handy, like whenever I feel the need to add another monitor to my desktop - I was up to 4 for a while but the S3 card I used on monitor 4 was less than worthless at 800x600, (I'm back to a 15" a 19" and a 21" all on different cards, one of which is AGP). In fact on top of a stack of pci video cards I also seem to have a pile of 15" LG monitors that have been retired..
Forgot the point of the post now, but I haven't had a coffee since 6 so its probably OK.