Ballmer "Interested" In Open Source Browser Engine

Da Massive writes "'Why is IE still relevant and why is it worth spending money on rendering engines when there are open source ones available that can respond to changes in Web standards faster?,' asked a young developer to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Sydney yesterday. 'That's cheeky, but a good question, but cheeky,' Ballmer said. Then came the startling revelation that Microsoft may also adopt an open source browser engine. 'Open source is interesting,' he said. 'Apple has embraced Webkit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE 8.'"

Comments

Open Source?

[Skiron]

MS still do not under open source code at all...

Why the fuck can't they just try to do what they do, and not try to deliberately fuck up/poison what everybody else is doing?

Sig correction

[Anonymous Coward]

"The ultimate expression of business without government control is the Mafia. (sig stolen from Marxist Hacker 42)"

No, the Mafia is the ultimate expression of business with excessive government control. They do best when the government supressess legitimate competition, thereby leaving the market to the most vicious and violent.
Only a minimum of regulation is needed - like preventing theft and fraud - just enough to make it more profitable to please the customer than to not please him. But when too much regulation is imposed, so much so that the mere operation of the business is illegal, then it becomes more profitable to go for a monopoly by violent elimination of the competition.

PS: You didn't 'steal' it from Marxist Hacker 42. You can't. He is a marxist - you liberated it.

Re:Sig correction

[Curien]

Firstly, government regulation does not equal less competition.

He didn't say it did. He said that a certain level of regulation (ie, outright prohibition) creates an environment which encourages mafia tactics.

Re:Sig correction

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

As far as I can decipher it, the OP's argument breaks down as follows:

Excessive government control ==>
Insignificant competition ==>
Violent business practices

I broke down both of those connections. Excessive government control doesn't stifle competition. Government control is a normalising force, designed to keep the system working and the interests of the people first and foremost on the agenda. Unfortunately, just like with pretty much anything, excessive use of it ends up doing more harm than good. To say that excessive regulation results in less competition focuses on one relatively small, rarely used aspect of government regulation. More often than not, government regulation actually encourages more competition. The real danger of using in excess is that companies will suffer from the tall poppy phenomenon, and will have no motivation to stand out from the crowd, but certainly not that there won't be competition.

As for the second connection, that makes little sense either, especially when taken in the context of government regulation. Regulation is designed to prevent shady practices, the most glaringly obvious of which is violence and intimidation. Only if the government stepped out of the business world completely could so obviously immoral, detrimental, and dangerous behaviour be allowed in the marketplace.

So there you go: that's my interpretation of the OP's argument, and my argument explained carefully.

Oh, and to the moderator who modded this thread offtopic: Remember, this is an article about Microsoft, and adopting code which could break their monopoly on their proprietary web browser. More competition, etc. Sound familiar?

Chinese copycat is one step faster

[sam0737]

They are selling a mobile phone + palm size projector

Review:
http://www.cheaa.com/Product/DH/HangQing/2008/11/37964152257.html
http://chinese.engadget.com/2008/08/26/epoq-egp-pp01-kirf-projector-phone-now-shipping/

just for 2000RMB (~285USD).

It claims to have 34-64 inches projected screen at 1-2 meter @ 640*480 resolution, does not mention the lumen though.

Better yet, looks like the speaker is much larger :P And after all it's a cell phone too.

not only that

[unity100]

but you are also wrong about the mafia and the regulation too. it is indeed a mafia environment, that is the one without regulation. for, if you leave a place lawless, eventually big fish eats small fish and establishes an order according to its own preference. that is the way of life if there is not rule of law.

we learned about this a long time ago (like 5000 years or so) and set up central governments so we can evade such wild west living. but apparently, you have missed the memo.

Re:MEMO TO RACIST AC:

[coleblak]

Uh, no, they're not, it's called the first amendment and it guarantees the right of assholes to use their hate speech.

Re:MEMO TO RACIST AC:

[Tubal-Cain]

Technically, their rights are not guaranteed here on Slashdot except by the permission of SourceForge.

And Then ...

[tuxgeek]

Another chair murdered while in the prime of it's life
Ballmer, the cold blooded chair killer. And the killing spree continues ...

Seriously

[dexomn]

Balmer throwing chairs is better PR than letting him actually speak to people in public.