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Gates' Last Day At Microsoft
mrogers writes "Today is Bill Gates' last day as a full-time employee of Microsoft. After 33 years at the company, the one-time richest man in the world will be retiring at 52 to spend more time guiding the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. What would you buy him as a retirement gift?"
A shiny, new laptop loaded with Vista, of course. He's earned it!
Caveat Utilitor
... that runs Windows ...
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
(I mean, judging from Microsoft's product lines for the last twenty years, it's what he really wants...)
Blatantly a tux toy.
:)
For all my *NIX & FOSS zealotry, I can't help but respect what he's brought to the world. His & MS's achievements have been broad and they've paved the way for multiple industries. Maybe I wouldn't be writing this on a Linux box if it wasn't for Windows
ilovegeorgebush
When can we look forward to a day without Ballmer? That would truly be a day to celebrate.
Double glazing, a tin of varnish and some brushes, and some efficient window security products.
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
Please tell me they're giving him the high tech 'security walk'!
Good programmers!
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
A 386SX with 640KB of memory.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Many, many fscking years of therapy.
Without him, I am not sure that personal technology would have taken off, and it would only be at work that I could do things like waste time on the internet and argue with strangers.
And that was all he ever really wanted or needed.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Microsoft and proprietary software. What is good for Microsoft and proprietary software conflicts with a lot of good charitable work.
Giving any poor organization the first copy of Microsoft software for no cost isn't going to help them in the long term.
To do this, he needs to get rid of his stake in Microsoft stock.
A card begging him to find someone more capable to run the company then Balmer. Someone who cares about software and customers.
An account on Slashdot. But no trolling, please.
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
Ipod.
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
A donation has been made in his name to the Human Fund.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Bill Gates will ow demand that ALL charities use MS software or they will NOT get any financial aid from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AND, you will give him ALL of your charity needs and requests or HE WILL give you less money if you go to other charities.
Now, the Steve Jobs Charity will give you exactly what you need and desire and in a sleek looking package. BUT, you have to wear a black turtle neck when applying.
From the height of the era, with ALL the upgrades. So he can see how computing could have been. Before he killed it. :-((
Those of you praising Gates for "building whole industries" and such nonsense are obviously too young to remember the catastrophic Extinction Event that was Microsoft's rise. History is "written by the victors", but there's plenty of us oldsters still about who remember that brilliant era of computing diversity Before the Horror of Microsoft But A Bit After the Horror of IBM.
a Zune!!
... judging from all those commercials in which he appears.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
A UNIX manual, of course!
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
"What would you buy him as a retirement gift?"
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Programming-Dummies-Wally-Wang/dp/0764508350
Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
...so he can get himself a better computer.
sir.
at the time while he was even contemplating starting this world of information technology, there was already computers, networking, emailing, operating systems (hint hint) and many more.
he just have been a successful (thats also questionable in many ways, if you get the backing from big boys like him, theres high chance that you can succeed too) entrepreneur, and if he wasnt there, today you'd be saying that about someone else.
Read radical news here
$25 gift card to Applebees.
Containing orange (or green) flip-flops, bermuda shorts, a shirt with either pineapples or tropical fish on it, some cheap sunglasses, a straw hat, some sun-screen nose rub (preferably blue) and a can of macadamia nuts.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
and thanks for all the bloat.
...a stuffed toy penguin with a badge reading "Don't fear me"?
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
I would get him a big hug. Without Gates, my parents and grandparents wouldn't be using computers for email today. It'd be a lot harder to live across the country where the fun jobs are without that...... I guess they might be using computers, but at least now they have an OS with built in sound drivers that work ;)
I would buy him the rare opportunity to treat me to dinner. I'm freaking hungry. It's not like I could ever get him anything he couldn't or hasn't got for himself.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
...did security walk him to the door after his exit interview?
A Belgian anarchist style party....complete with custard pies!
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Steve Ballmer has been CEO since January 2000.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Not matter what people want to think thanks to Microsoft products I've been able to find work since 1982 from development to IT. I also admire that you are one of the only mega rich who donates to charity out of your own pocket, not your companies and take credit for it. Enjoy the next phase of your life.
...who helped him carry his boxes to the car. Steve? Ray?
He's the Chairman. Balmer is the CEO.
Where law ends, tyranny begins -- William Pitt
Obligatory video from CES 2008 for those who haven't seen it. Here's to you Big Bill. Thank you for your sense of humor and your charity. And thank you for inspiring so many including myself to pursue a career in computers and technology.
Oh, and get off his lawn!
Support a true independent artist - Leila Lopez
Reading through the comments so far, it seems like /. is the middle of a lovefest for their one-time enemy, Bill Gatus of Borg. Come on, where are the FOSS zealots who will scream and yell and rave about what an evil person he is? Someone restore my faith in geekdom!
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
I wonder why Bill picked this charity of all things..
As a nerd, you would think he would fund a Mars mission or something right? Thats what I would do (aside from making the next great pyramid tomb)
windows ME ... it was absolutely the best piece of software ever written!
Without him, I am not sure that personal technology would have taken off,
No. Chances are that we'd simply have a different guy filling his shoes, or a different company filling Microsoft's.
For example, maybe we'd all be using Sun computers...
Please help metamoderate.
a nice shiny new PS3 to play with :)
(2nd choice was window blinds.....)
I blatantly do not have any awe or gratitude to that person expressed in top comments.
My work is entirely related to computers and without PC it would be more productive, because I would not spend so much time socializing, playing games, watching news, playing with novelties, feeling up needless forms and documents.
Restriction is good, freedom is bad. At least for me.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
after we bought it.
A copy of Twilight In The Desert.
It's time Mr. Gates learned about Peak Oil.
A time machine and a contraceptive.
-- Put crudely, the world is an extremely large problem instance. (Russel/Norvig Artificial Intelligence)
Apple releases improved UI which was actually developed several years before. When asked why they were waiting they replied, "We felt it would be safer not to release it until now"
Paul Allen should show up with Micro-Soft Basic 2.0 for Altair 8800.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
That means... if Ugh hadn't discovered fire, we would NOT live in the dark now?
In the BBC documentary How a Geek Changed the World, did anyone see the part where Gates leaped over a chair from a standing start? That must have been a very useful skill when working alongside Ballmer!
(I've been unable to find the clip online so I can't post a link.)
"Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo
A soul.
Oh wait, isn't that what the charity is for?
I'ld say they give him a Windows Vista box, and walk him into a Linux convention. His mission: install Vista and exit the "Scorched Earth" without mishap. From many Walks before him, they've mostly been "boohed" out of the area or sacked by an army of punch-llamas. Will he be sacked before he even gets the tape off the lid or, maybe depending if he decides to call the telephone activator first, to be noticed on the phone trying to save time before opening for the actual install? :-\
Why buy when you can give the gift of open source software!
Just kidding about the C4.
I would actually shake his hand.
Love or hate Microsoft / Windows, he has done a lot to get people using computers.
For those of you whippersnappers that don't remember Clippy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clippy
"What would you buy him as a retirement gift?"
The *world* no one can give him.
If you give him the planet, he will ask the universe!
I would buy him a Xerox 820 with dual 8" floppies running a copy of CP/M, Wordstar, and DB2.
What do you get a billionaire who has "everything"?
What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
I don't know him, but I think he could see the humour in this. I would give him a plush penguin holding a card with the words "Free, is when you break away from Microsoft". :p
Carbon based humanoid in training.
A 5 pound brick of C4.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...with a receipt for $0 in the box :)
a Mac
(There is still IBM code in Windows.. it's called OLE.. Object Linking and Embedding.. M$ licenses it from Big Blue... Big Blue's follow-up to OLE, called SOM .. System Object Modeling.. is far superior.. but you don't get to use it because you don't run OS/2, and it was never developed for other platforms.)
IIRC, IBM owned DDE and Wang owned OLE or something like that. Wang took Microsoft to court and got a few million from them before the lights were turned off.
And SOM was ported to both Windows and Mac but Microsoft vaporware, licensing restrictions on OEMs, and Apples need to be tied to the hardware( PPC, PREP / CHRP ) all helped block SOM from getting spread outside of OS/2 on the PC.
He sure as hell doesn't deserve to be praised.
But any good snakeoil salesman is mostly praised
at first. It's only through education and understanding of the product that they are then scoffed at. Too bad our society is mostly computer illiterate and their understanding of computer use comes down to knowing what buttons to click. The others who praise him and his company are able to make great wealth constantly repairing the failures of Microsoft's products.
One thing is for sure, this the snakeoil salesman is not retiring is trade and will be pushing Microsoft software for a long time to come. Unfortunate for everyone IMO.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Microsoft's days are numbered. Gates is getting out while he still can.
I would get him the latest Ubuntu Distro :)
Wouldn't cost me a dime,
but it would blow his mind
A Mac
Two copies of Windows Me side by side form a meme for the Me Me Generation.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Guess now we'll have to replace the Bill Gates Borg avitar with Steve Balmer throwing a chair.
"I bow to no man" - Riddick
because if ugh didnt do it, magh would do it.but your analogy doesnt hold in that, when ugh discovered fire, there werent a group of 'businessmen' choosing to support ugh over magh. in the case at hand, there was.
Read radical news here
> "What would you buy him as a retirement gift?"
That's easy: "Open Source for Dummies"
A friend of mine who I worked with for a number of years was the one who "acquired" a certain paper tape (and started copying it) from Bill's RV during a demo of their BASIC for the Altiar down in New Mexico many years ago. Their copying and distribution prompted the (in)famous Open Letter to Hobbyists.
That "missing" paper tape reel would make a nice gift, methinks.
Freaks of Bill_Gates (1523)
Info Journal Firehose Friends Fans Foes Freaks Tags Bookmarks Friends of Friends
Bill_Gates (1523) is hated by no one
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
America's Got Talent.
He does the BEST "Harlan Ellison, ranting" impersonation that I have EVER seen!
He would win, for sure!
presented with a wig comprised of all of Ballmer's remaining hair, a bottle of Christian Brothers brandy, and a shotgun that jams frequently. They could call it the "Windows ME Treatment"
I would get him Movie Maker..... now if I could only figure out where to download it from.
I know someone who works on the government side of Unemployment Insurance. Supposedly with the stimulus package's "extended benefits", there's either no work-search required, or it's not gonna be enforced.
He could have gotten a few extra dollars to make the first few months of his retirement less of a financial struggle.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Replying to myself here, but I found the clip the BBC used. That is one quintessentially geeky jump.
Really getting off-topic now, but at 3:14 in this, where is Mitch giving his interview from? The 1970s?!
"Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo
I'd buy Bill a racing game and an old skewl microsoft sidewinder gamepad which no driver on the face of the earth can run.
"I guess I'm gonna fade into Bolivian."
replying to your sig:
if japan made sex robots they would look like a 20-hosed shop vac and would rape you as soon as you walked into the room
I'd get him a 20" Intel-based Apple iMac computer installed with the last version of Office (not the newest one, but one before). That way, Bill could at least see that a decent-spec'd, moderately priced yet still well-designed computer CAN actually be a pleasant experience for the overwhelming majority of normal computer users. Maybe then Bill can realize that sometimes less is more and that a long laundry list of half-assed features is no good compared to a shorter list of features that work well.
A nice BSOD T-Shirt. Possibly even a new scanner to go with it.
This post approved by Shampoo.
You should make it a whole Megabyte. The experience is much more exciting with emm386.sys, even if not particularly more useful.
A stuffed Linux penguin.
if you were me, you'd think the same way
All I can say is watch what this guy is up to "charitable" in the future. I'd rather he didn't.
echo mailto: !#^."<*>"|tr "<*> mailto:" net@madduck
I would buy him an iPhone
...for the man who has everything... ~m
"Yes, I have a Disaster Recovery Plan. It's called my Resume"
Wonder if he has enough money to retire.
btw I'm german...
rammed an inch for every farking year I've had to live with his garbage operating systems!
...an invoice for $10mil, for all the headaches he's caused me.
Fire the Vista guys on the way out. Reinstate XP, and we'll overlook this little racketeering monopoly thing. Ok?
A burning brown bag filled with fecal matter.
BSD is for people who love Unix, Linux is for people who hate Microsoft.
I fine retirement gift would be the latest Apple hardware and a million of Apple shares. "You will be assimilated, resistance is futile."
I think most of MS' issues come from his underlings. I foresee MS going down the shitter faster than it would have with him on board which, imo, is a good thing.
As a retirement gift, I'd give him a decent set of clothes. He needs that more than anything else I could possibly give him.
As a 50 year old geezer, who has "been with M$ since the beginning", I would have to agree 100%.
How about... a Conscience? At least that way, he could Properly enjoy his retirement.
The perfect gift from Microsoft to give to Bill Gates would be lifetime support for Windows XP, including the exclusive service packs 4 and higher, custom built for Bill Gates alone. And a DVD with some highlights of Microsoft, titled:"Developers, Developers, Developers" which includes the famous commercial for windows 1.0 starring Steve Balmer.
I wonder if Slashdot will change the bOrg Gates to something different?
Swift Kick: Apply directly to the nutsack.
Help us build a better map!
retiring the stupid BillG as The Borg icon! ST:TNG has been in reruns since 1994, there isn't a Star Trek show in production, he hasn't been involved in the daily running of MSFT for years, and as of today he isn't even an employee.
I'm not suggesting that anyone in the /. community consider updating their perceptions of the company for the last 10 years; to acknowledge that anyone who has gone to work for the company since 2000 has had any influence on the company's approach to business, markets, customers, or technology; or to suggest that the investment in software engineering practices, security tools and training, developer outreach, or a monstrous R&D spend could have any value what-so-ever to the PC industry, the software industry, or have improved any MSFT product. It does seem, however, like today would be a good day to update the thumbnail to something that at least reflects the cultural constructs of the 21st century.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
The CBC has an article titled Bill Gates in Canada: a checkered legacy.
There are some choice quotes on anti-trust, Michael Cowpland (Corel founder and the WordPerfect debacle), recruiting from University of Waterloo, establishing a Richmond, B.C. campus, ...etc.
Worth a read.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
the one time richest man
he was rated the richest man in the world 13 times in a row according to the BBC network
A Macbook Pro, with Microsoft Office, Leopard, and Vista all on it, plus other software.
Mark my words, in my opinion: this is the beginning of Gates' clown head activation. Now he will never shut up until he has secured some important spot on the national or worldwide stage. He has money and fame, now he wants power. Most people assume he is gone and done with Microsoft, not so, not even in his own words if you ever care to follow what the man says in interviews. He will continue to play a role at Microsoft, and perhaps an even more sinister one as he will be thought of by most as out of the picture. He will appear distant from Microsoft to most, but he will now play the goodie-two-shoes of the world and meanwhile the clown head Gates will bark his opinion on whatever, whenever.
Here's what Gates thinks about healthcare, here's what Gates thinks about the middle east, here's what Gates thinks about midgets sodomizing each other for Jesus. It begins now, don't think for a moment this guy will be content enough to do "good works" for the sake of humanity, don't ever be fooled by this man again.
And because he's rich, most people undulate before him in admiration, like the poor father in the movie Arthur, who had a stiffy for the rich drunk he daughter was fucking.
Its funny how gates probably devoted an entire millisecond thinking about slashdot and the fossie zealots that live here, but to any lay person, the commenters on this otherwise benign looking news aggregator seem to be excessively obsessed with gates and his little company.
So while gates continued making shrewd business decisions and generating billions of dollars for several decades, all the people here continued to do is bitch and moan, whilst keeping up with the newest 'net memes, ofcource. I wonder if thats a sign of true helplessness or stupidity.
I guess I'll just hang around while the charming people here mod me down. Well in a couple of years, when the last of the moderates who didn't drink the koolaid on either side of the windows/linux pissing contest, leave this place, it will truly be a joy to read.
I don't have anything near as much money as him, I would consider a copy of Linux, because the O/S and software are written so much better than anything he or his company has ever come up with. I did note that it seemed a rather canned interview, it looked like it was held on the Microsoft campus, Billy-boy seemed perfectly calm, Brian Williams seemed nervous. I was rather insulted by this advertisement by NBC News (or was that MSNBC?), especially as there was never one mention of Open Source, the only non-MS operating system mentioned was Apple, and Billy-boy only had to say that his company had written a lot of software for that O/S.
I think he at least deserves an unlimited login session on a PDP-10.
Microsoft Bob
LOOK AT BILL GATES FINGER in this LINK...He says: FUCK YOU ALL!!! http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=app-dd61c332-9bf4-46d2-98b7-594605366225&show_article=1&article_id=D91IKTR80
Really? I've heard many anecdotes about Bill Gates, but none about him kowtowing to anyone. In the Time magazine cover story on him some years ago, his father talks about Bill, known as "Trey" in his family, butting heads with his late mother (by all accounts an extremely strong-willed woman) when he was a young teenager, and refusing to give a millimeter. There are also many anecdotes about his own pig-headedness, and numerous variations of something he usually told people with whom found himself working: "I think you'll find we'll get along better once you realize that I'm in charge", or words to that effect. He was notorious for bullying subordinates in meetings, launching long tirades at them at perceived faults, but especially if he thought that they were bullshitting him. Microsoft insiders talk about the culture of paranoia he cultivated inside the company, forcing project managers to compete for his attention in an almost Darwinian struggle, and *EVERYTHING* that Microsoft did as a company, including their most egregious anticompetitive behavior, was either his initiative, or had his explicit approval. Ballmer was only his hatchet man, the loud-mouth bully stalking the corridors, threatening at the top of his lungs to fire everyone if a project didn't ship on time.
Gates may look like the stereotypical nerd, but his is very much a Type A personality, quite similar to Ballmer. Don't believe for a moment that Gates was some kind of dewy-eyed innocent who didn't know what was going on inside Microsoft, or that big, bad Ballmer could tell him what to do, much less bully him. From what I understand, friction between them only arose because Gates insisted on trying to dictate to Ballmer even after he was named CEO, and Ballmer naturally felt that since it was his call, he'd do things his way. Believe me, I don't think there's the person born yet who could bully him. Well, maybe Melinda, but that's the prerogative of wives everywhere.
I'll admit to my share of Microsoft bashing over the years. Bill has always been a great boogey man! My hats off to Bill Gates for being the arch-nemesis master . He's kind of like the guy who played Darth Vader. You hated him but,.... you cared about his character. He was meaningful. It's going to be sad to see Bill fading away. Ballmer is kind of like a laughable sidekick. You can imagine him dancing around like monkey-boy while Bill is plotting --like Mojo Jojo-- to take over the world. I think that the "Gates of Borg" icon from Slashdot will live forever. So, goodbye Bill. Go do good things with the remaining time you have and help make the world a better place.
We should put out an ad for a new Arch Nemesis. Who's going to be the next big, bad, evil symbol of corporate greed now that Bill is gone?
GuNgA-DiN
Shit, now who are we going to me fun of now?
I think the best retirement gift for Bill Gates could be a Windows named after him. He created windows some 15-20 years back which brought revolution in computers, huge programs, hardware, games all are possible today because of what he think some 30 years ago. It will be amazing if Microsoft names their next Windows after Bill gates and make it as perfect as it can get just like the great man
Since he's from the Northwest, it seems to me appropriate that instead of getting him a retirement gift, he should hold a potlatch. Just make sure and let me know when and where.... ;^)
ummmmmm.
Dont you mean Judge Dredd
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire.
...is pronounced LIE-nuss in the US. Not LIH-nuss. Or LEE-nuss. Everyone knows Peanuts. Everyone knows Linus, the little boy with the security blanket. So the natural tendency in the US is to pronounce LIH-nux LIE-nux. Probably most people you will meet outside of geeky circles won't know what Minix is. So nobody will get the joke that spawned the "correct" pronunciation of Linux. So why fight it? LIE-nuss is your security blanket to keep you secure and your files safe from the aftermath of nasty crashes.
Someone needs to do artwork of Tux with a security blanket.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Nothing. I have already given him enough money by paying for his OS when I want to run linux.
Are there no independent white box system builders in your area? Is there no place you can go to have a box built for you? Can you not build one yourself?
It seems to me a little foolish to complain about the "Microsoft Tax" when you buy something like an HP or Dell. It's kind of like complaining that a GM dealership is slapping an "AC Delco" tax on you because those stereos are standard in GM vehicles. Either don't buy them, or cough up the money to replace them. You actually have more choice in buying PC hardware. You're only stuck with the "Microsoft Tax" if you insist on buying a PC from one of their big OEM partners.
Hell, you can even get laptops without Windows now.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
A solid gold house and a rocket car.
What has Bill Gates personally achieved? Note that personally ripping off the ideas of others is not an achievement.
Even Gates' enemies don't make statements that dumb.
Leaving aside the fact that very few people come up with original ideas at all... Steve Jobs ripped off Xerox, the Mac didn't just spring into his imagination from nothingness, you know... the kind of smarts and imagination it takes to build a multi-billion dollar empire is far beyond what most of us will ever have or do.
As for accomplishments... sometimes improving on an idea is an accomplishment, and while we rightfully skewer MS on what they did wrong, we should then also credit them for what they did right. Office would never have become a standard if customers didn't like it. Exchange would never has become a standard if customers didn't like it. Sharepoint Server is quickly becoming a standard because their customers absolutely love it.
MS, and Gates, have done plenty right. And they've got billions to show for it.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
a T-shirt with Google logo on it.
You mean, like this or perhaps like this and this?
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
A book on business ethics? Never too late to learn something new.
meh
I'd give him a cake with Tux on it!
A new cell phone.
I'll even add in a new keyboard to be nice.
Best "String" Ever!
32 kilobits of ROM is not a big field (much less, language), especially when it is divided up into byte chunks, and those bytes are divided up into op-code sequences.
Someone else mentioned that there were plenty of other options, faster, more compact, more expressive, whatever.
I'll admit that basic's print statement was a little less obscure to most new users than, say, FORTH's ." word.
: hello-world ." Hello World!" ;
hello-world
as opposed to
print "Hello World!"The FORTH interpreters tended to be a lot easier to understand and build on.
Lisp? Snobol? Lots and lots of good stuff.
I think part of the acceptability of BASIC to the business world was that the keywords were called "commands".
PRINT "You lousy machine!"
(Although, that's not quite what the PHB thought she wanted.)
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
Get real.
I mean, sure, fair use back then sort of allowed what they did with BASIC, but they sure were never anxious to give credit where credit was due.
Not on anything.
And if you think MSWindows was not "sincere flattery", well, you've never written apps in both Macintosh and MSWindows. (And MSWindows is such a pain to interface with. Unless you like copy/paste/chisel programming. I mean, yeah, the Macintosh system was all "framework this" and "framework that", but MFC? Copy, paste, chisel, repeat.)
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
He rode the wave. He got us out on the wave.
Then he got in his motorboat and left us behind in the undertow.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
Without Windows... 50% of people on the world will have to pay for expensive Mac (including the hardware, OS and applications), and you need to buy a new version of OS if you want to use new version of Xcode. Having fun with computer? Yeah, "donate" your salary to SJ. For another 50% of people on the world, they will have to fight with those configuration files, edit them with vi, emacs...etc. "console mode rulz!". Hahaha.
Most probably Debian.
Check out the vid. Probably you have seen it, but I believe it should not be missing from this Bill's hall of fame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwWN5bhftE
What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
Cancer, of course. First of all, he deserves nothing less. Second, it would be nice to see how he will still choose to stroke his own ego by running his foundation and dangling money in front of people far superior to himself, as opposed to letting competent people to run cancer research that would have a chance to cure him.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
An iPod with anti-theft device: http://hideapod.com/
So he can contribute code directly to various open source projects. The question is, would any of his submitted patches be accepted?
To make the guy see sense. A Linux manual is just what he needs. Maybe he should try Ubuntu.
Disclaimer: I'm not against MS products, I use both Windows and Linux for different purposes, and I've used enough other OSes before to not give much of a damn about any particular one. By Slashdot standards, I tend to actually count as pro-MS, mostly by virtue of where the reference point is.
That said:
You're saying, basically, that by making people pay for hardware and upgrades they didn't actually need, it's stimulated and created a bigger mass market for the hardware industry. That's on par with saying that if you break enough windows, the glass industry will benefit greatly, and it might even bring down the price of glass.
What makes it a fallacy is ignoring the cost of all that, and pretending that only the good effects exist. It didn't just wave a magic wand and created money for an industry. It made a bunch of people pay for something they didn't need.
More importantly: money which otherwise would have been used for something else. We don't know what exactly, but it wouldn't be money stuffed under the mattress. (There's a federal reserve, or similar in other countries, which sees to it that money circulates at roughly the desired speed.) Maybe they would have been used to buy something else, and stimulated another industry. Maybe they would have been put in pension funds which in turn get invested in whatever companies are growing fast, essentially giving them more money to grow.
Broken windows or Windows don't _create_ money or markets. They just force a transfer from one to another. Every cent earned by the glaziers for repairing a broken window, isn't a cent magicked out of thin air, but a cent that someone else didn't earn as a result. Every cent earned by MS or the hardware industry because of broken Windows, is a cent some other industry won't see.
So you can't just say that it was good for hardware prices, as if the alternative would have been nothing at all. If we didn't spend our collective money on subsidizing hardware research and bringing hardware prices down, we _would_ have something else instead. Maybe better cars, or maybe HDTV sets would have dropped in price instead, or maybe we'd just have more pizza shops. It's impossible to roll back history and peek down the other trouser leg, so we'll never know exactly what we're missing, or if it's better or worse than cheap hardware. But we would have used those money on _something_ anyway, and _some_ industries would have benefited from it instead.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
... intended for rectal application. With barbs.
...a swift kick in the ass!
... is a 3D map of the Microsoft Campus.
Anyone knows what other presents are coming up?
You can reuse this joke under the terms and conditions of the GFDL.
Give him some free courses at MIT.
Give him support for his work in Africa.
For Kindness sake
Putting the proprietary vs. open argument away.
Putting the Windows vs. Linux argument away.
Putting the XP vs. Vista argument away.
Full Disclosure: I use XP for video production and linux for just about everything else.
Bill Gates could have gone from DOS's partial imitation of Unix to actually implementing Unix underneath his OSses. But, no, he had to have his company re-invent every wheel, building an OS with checkboxes for tasks that didn't need to be done instead of building an OS that allowed users to get their work done.
Everything his company has done is like that. Give middle management something to do, instead of giving people tools to work productively so they wouldn't tend as much to migrate to middle management.
Security is a joke because of things like MUAs and web browsers (and file system browsers!) oriented more towards giving other people control of bits and pieces of the user's workstation. Outlook? Sure. It is built precisely for letting admins and advertisers dictate what the user sees. If the user can't control it, there's no way to secure it.
I am not jealous of a man who has succeeded at nothing more than polluting his own industry.
Computer memory is just fancy paper, CPUs just fancy pens with fancy erasers; the 'net is just a fancy backyard fence.
MOD PARENT UP!!!
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I bought a McDonald's hamburger once...
Does that mean that I am guilty for killing at least one tree and at least one cow?
I've also ordered a Pepsi (or was that Coke?) with it.
How many people gave their lives in the cold war so that we in the eastern parts of Europe could have the benefits of capitalism and american sodas?
Am I guilty for their deaths too?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
That's easy: a RAM bar! Because 640k is not enough after all :-p
I was just thinking about the relation between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates myself. They've been the bitterest of rivals in the past, patched things up somewhat, been bitter rivals again, etc. At the root of this could be the difference in platforms, or it could just be plain and simple competetiveness.
Bill Gates doesn't have as much of a stake in that competition now. Sure, thanks to Windows his name is a household word, but if that old email that surfaced recently is any indication, he may not be all that pleased with the juggernaut he helped build. He dismissed it as an attempt to improve the product (who wouldn't?), but what if it's not enough, and the culture refuses to change? It could be said that he helped build the cultural æsthetic at Microsoft so well that even he can't steer it any more.
I'm not saying it'd happen, but I would giggle like a madman for several days if/when Bill Gates admits that Apple was what he was trying to build all along.
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
You silly git! Correct pronounciation has different answers.
1) 'Linus' can be pronounced differently (and therefore the related 'Linux') depending on the native language of the speaker, and Linus recognizes that and gives a recorded sample of two different ways here http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/linus/
2) Linus says it this way, but since he's Swedish it's not just a "short I or long I" question - it sounds to me like a short I blended with a bit of a long E. http://www.paul.sladen.org/pronunciation/
I don't think anyone has ever said "this is how you pronounce it". We try to do it like the guy who wrote it does, but if you're not a native Swede you're probably going to only get close. I think it's clear that Linus doesn't really care. If I were you I wouldn't correct them, and if the conversation came up, tell them to listen to the MP3 here Linus pronounces it.
I say Lie-Miga, as in Amiga, the kick ass machine.
I wish they ported the amiga to a $99 PDa/mobile at 640x400, that would rock.
For the record, minix ran like a dog on the amiga, and wasnt impressive compared to the amiga, even RiscOS archimedes were cooler, even tho the OS was cooperative like the old macos.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
> What would you buy him as a retirement gift?
Yahoo?
... the early-nineties windowing o/s that was better than WinDoze.
mark
A set of Debian installation DVD's and an installation CD of OpenOffice.org, so he can see the worlds computing future! I think he has seen the writing on the wall, and is jumping ship.
Ironicly, he has done more to promote Linux, Open Source, and "Free" Software than anyone.
I don't see much change in the way Mickey$oft will do business in the future. They have never learned from their mistakes!
I'd give him a shiny BLUE RAY (not HDDVD)
disc with Firefox 3, KDE 4, and a number of linux distro's on it. Oh, yeah and a copy of FreeDos hehe
What to get him for retirement? Ooh, I know! A Mac. ;)
I know it's not popular to support Microsoft or any of the people (especially Mr. Gates) who work there. However, Gates has done a lot to popularise computers and make them a common/cheap item for house holds. Since he has all the money he needs, I think a nice Thank You card and an offer to help at the charitiable foundation might be nice.
White chocolate raspberry to be precise...
"It seems that we are at the age where life stops giving us things, and starts taking them away..." Indiana Jones
A big truck of fertilizer
When Gates first tried to create his fabled army of evil monkeys, he ended up with just one evil and angry monkey(boy). So he called him Steve and made him president.
But Gates didn't give up his dream and his army of evil monkeys has been harrassing open source developers ever since
I'll offer him a job at Google.
MS did not invent email, did not see the internet coming and in general has never started a paradigm shift in the industry.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
You should watch The Godfather.
Thanking somebody for giving you a job despite of how they can do that is morally suspect.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Avatar. AVATAR. AvAtAr.
Avatar. AVATAR. AvAtAr.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Sales figures for Vista vs downloads for Firefox :)
After all wouldn't we all enjoy seeing Steve in pain and being controlled by Bill?
...a blue pillow with fake STOP messages on it.
A MACINTOSH COMPUTeR HE'll LOVE IT!!!!
I doubt he smokes weed, and being the rich man he is, it would be a waste if he didn't start the hobby, especially now that he's retired. So I would buy him a nice fat 20 bag that he and his wife could smoke right to their faces.