Slashdot Mirror
What If There Was a Microsoft Appreciation Day?
theodp writes "In 2005, Microsoft came under fire after withdrawing support for an anti-gay-discrimination bill. 'I don't want the company to be in the position of appearing to dismiss the deeply-held beliefs of any employee, by picking sides on social policy issues,' explained CEO Steve Ballmer. That was then. Microsoft — like Google and Amazon — has since very publicly declared its support for gay-marriage legislation, which means it — unlike Chick-fil-A — needn't worry about the 'deeply-held beliefs of any employee' causing it to be blocked from doing business by the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. I guess we'll never know what Microsoft versions of 'Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day' or 'National Same-Sex Kiss Day' would have looked like."
Other than just trying to rile up commentators? Clickbait much?
I'm not even sure what this post is about or why it is something that matters.
I imagine there will be a troll fest coming in 3... 2...
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Soulskill: This article is bad and you should feel bad.
how much $$$ did /. receive to remove it?
What If There Was an End to All These Silly Interrogatory Posts at Slashdot?
...that most IT companies have led the way on gay rights.
OK, Microsoft was a little slower than a few off the blocks, but in general I think that IT corporations should be proud of their lead in this issue, and MS should be applauded for being among them.
Still won't stop me loading up Linux instead though...
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
... because they don't know what the software market was like before them.
A good CAD setup including workstation and licenses could be $100K. A mainframe to handle your accounting could be $6000 per month.
Personal computing - IBM, Microsoft, and Apple - demolished the old model which was low volume, buggy software at high prices. I have no illusions about their intentions, they've made more money than any emperor. But I do appreciate what they created.
What if Slashdot just stuck to posting actual news stories instead of speculatory flamebait?
Only if it coincided with Opposite Day.
I don't consider it real progress that some companies come out in support of gay marriage, while others are against it. I go to Pride, but I wish we didn't have it. Real progress will be when it ceases to matter whether or not you're gay; When it's as natural as not being gay.
It's like black history month. I don't support that either. People call me racist for it, but I don't. There is no black history month; Black history is American history. It's human history. And their accomplishments should be celebrated the same way as every other historical accomplishment is. We don't need a "special olympics" history for people based on the color of their skin, we need to delete those divisions from our history books, mentioning only that there was a period of time (known as the Stupid Ages) when it was relevant, and then we grew up and put a stop to it. Ta-da, the end.
It'll be progress with companies like Chic-Fil A say they don't support gay marriage or homosexuality, and gets no press coverage at all. Like, wait, what? Why the fuck does anyone care what a fast food restaurant owner thinks about a perfectly natural state of being? That'd be like Ford Motor Co., coming out and saying they're against red heads marrying. It would go on the back pages, in the "News of the Weird" section.
That's where shit like this belongs, and until that's where it ends up and people pay it no more attention than as a source of fringe humor and entertainment when companies make announcements like this, we're still in the Stupid Ages of our future history books.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I ate and or bought chick-fil-a for others every single day this week and will continue.
Now before anyone goes hating on me know this.
1. I donate large sums of money to GLBT causes every year and have nothing against gay marriage.
2. I am not religious.
3. I believe in evolution not creationism.
4. I am a hard core right wing Republican.
All that being said, I am extremely pro private business and that value far outweighs anyones little pissing match with the management of chick-fil-a.
Got Code?
Chic-Fil-A is a private company serving the interests of a private owner. Microsoft soft is a publicly held company which primarily exists to serve the interests of their shareholders.
The same sex marriage debate is divisive and there are strong beliefs on both sides. Does a public company exist to sell a product and provide a profit to its shareholders, or help enact social change even if it means the cost of business? Even if it hurts shareholders?
It simply does not make sense to take sides on a on a highly divisive social issue.
In Chic-Fil-A's case, Rahm Emmanuel shot his mouth off saying "Their values are not our values" and supported his alderman's postion to stop Chic--Fil-A from building a restaurant based on Chic Fil A's president stance on opposing same sex marriage. Which subsequently led to the anti-boycott and Chic-Fil-A's single biggest sales day in the history of the company Aug 1
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
Being tolerant of intolerant people does not make you tolerant. It is you standing idly by as bad things are done to people.
--
BMO
you must be new here
The old CEO, Mr. Gates, is a much better man then I once thought of him. Microsoft's operating system did get better... in fact it was finally worth its price! It is a shame though... the decided to do a power grab with a BIOS mod. It becomes laughable when they tried to push Windows 8 on us with so much bad news. They might have had a chance with Windows 7.
I find humor in the fact that game companies are now looking hard at Linux. As Microsoft shovels two healthy spades of dirt upon their own grave I know there is a good chance the next motherboard I buy might cost me a couple hundred dollars and wont run Windows, but in truth I really don't care. Linux has long made a better workstation, and there are games on the way! Sony will produce a better console for playing games, and maybe I should bother gaming on my workstation. The only two games I play anymore are EQ2 and Diablo 3, so I'm halfway there already.
I thank Microsoft for being pragmatic about such hot button issues that only fools invest so much passion in. Don't get me wrong my gay friends. I hate tyranny as much as you do, but "marriage" is a silly stupid word that can never eclipse true love. Those who cling to the word "marriage" like it was some God given right to a man and woman are often found forsaking their vows as they bed others. It is a worthless word unless there is love, commitment and truth behind it. There is no love, commitment to their fellow man or so much as a stick of truth behind denying that all people should have the same rights.
So, in a time where you can seem to do nothing right, thank you Microsoft... thank you for being just a hair less daft.
They bring back the Trackball explorer line and not a moment before.
The time for civil rights and equality is always "now". The time for putting them off to appease the tender sensibilities of bigoted fucksticks is "never".
If you are actually gay, you know perfectly well that we're several generations away from that point. So shouting down any group (jews, blacks, gays) wanting to take pride in it's existence after recent or ongoing persecution makes less sense than finding Chewie on Endor.