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MS Releases Open Source Alternative To BigTable

gollito writes in with news that Microsoft has released an open source alternative to Google's BigTable file system, which is used on large distributed computer clusters. Matt Asay writes for CNet: "I also believe that Microsoft's fear-mongering around open source cost it years of productivity and quality gains that it could have been delivering to customers through open source. I hope that reign of ignorance is over."

4 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wow... just wow. by EvanED · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I see Ballmer chair jokes around here quite a bit, and between not being all that funny in the first place and going on for years(?), they have just become stupid. But yours actually works for some reason... I laughed a little. If I still had my last mod point that expired sometime in the last day, I'd have modded you up.

  2. Matt Asay by Inquisitor911 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Every time I see Matt Asay's name mentioned in article summaries here on /., I'm shocked for a moment, because I have an uncle with that name.

  3. Re:needs an expert opinion by cboslin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I wish the reign of ignorance was over. It is NOT. HINT: If reviewing CSPAN briefs of elected officials or the documentation on IT matters, pay attention to the word PROCUREMENT. The slant is decidedly in Microsoft s favor.

    Procurement is being used to focus government agencies on buying Microsoft ONLY solutions.

    The politicians looked like they were buying the FUD, hook, line and sinker. The ignorance is alive, well and fostering. More of a pandemic than any flu could be.

    Linux is now greater than 2%, get curious and discover why for yourself! Is this why Microsoft is giving away their new OS for 1 YEAR?

    Personally I think it is much higher than that, with the stats being skewed based on the source of the data. I also believe that Microsoft is very, very worried.

    Not only does the FUD continue, but now Microsoft is releasing FREE copies of their new operating system for 1 YEAR ONLY. At the end of that one year you will have to remove it or pay to upgrade. (Was announced on Leo Laporte s radio, twit TV pod cast today and I was surprised)

    I believe they are counting on ignorance of people to not give another operating system or applications a chance, at least for a year so that they can either improve their offering (thus extending...) or replace it with something better. They definitely appear to be trying hard to extinguish the flow of people to other operating systems.

    If you HAD to purchase NEW HARDWARE to run Vista and / or Windows 7, keep the old system and load up native Linux (no dual boot, no WINE, no virtual machine initially, no extra anything that might introduce problems and cause unnecessary frustrations, just Linux) and start giving it a try, you might surprise yourself, much has changed in the last year with Linux! Besides, the old PC is no LONGER your primary machine, so go for it, and try some new solutions, you will be glad that you did. Sadly I am not aware of a way to give MacIntosh OS X a try on old PCs, perhaps someone reading this can provide a link for those interested in going there, as my preference is honestly Linux.

    Note it is always better to buy hardware from a vendor that focuses on the operating sytem, either Linux or MacIntosh, that way the computer will run out of the box without problems. If you attempt to convert your existing PC to Linux, be patient and remember that some or much of the hardware was NOT designed to run with Linux and therefore problems are to be expected.

    Better yet, but a new computer meant to run on and with Linux. One of the better offering is the Zareason either the Limbo 2550A ($299, will run Compiz, Beryl and other 3D desktop effects) or the Breeze 3660 ($349)

    Once you go either Mac or Linux, you do NOT HAVE TO go back to MS. At least not if you are smart after learning about alternative software packages to do literally anything and everything you can do in a MS OS environment.

    Expect a learning curve, just as you would with the new Microsoft operating system, nothing new there.

    Are they vainly trying to staunch the flow of users away from Microsoft operating systems and applications to other alternatives? Especially considering the economy and the markets frustration with Vista and Windows 7.

    Personally I was surprised they did not extend Windows 95 yet a second time. At least it would run on a netbook ($200 - $300 PC) with 512MB or less of RAM.

    Perhaps they are planning a version of their new Windows OS that will run adequately in 512 MB of RAM and therefore on netbooks

  4. Re:Wow... just wow. by TemporalBeing · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You can't deny that swine flu changed everything.

    Don't you mean Avian-Swine flu?

    --
    Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)