Google's web apps are proprietary, closed, and datamine the crap out of your usage and personal data.
The parts of the Google webapps that run on your web browser are delivered to your web browser as Javascript and HTML. It should not be hard to figure out what personal information they send to Google. Besides, if the Chrome OS is really open, you should be able to run webapps from someone you trust rather than Google's web apps.
... on the whole it's going to do little for real FOSS adoption.
But most people don't understand about, and mostly don't care about computer security, privacy, etc. So, why would they suddenly care about what Google does? If the Chrome OS fails, it probably won't be because of privacy concerns. A more likely scenario is that that MS will lean on OEMs to not preinstall Chrome OS.
Ummm... so you are saying that all of those poor people suffering from famine, war and disease in Africa are unfit to be parents?
Anyway, my question was not whether they have a responsibility to feed them. My question is whether you would feel the slightest guilty if you were in that situation.
Imagine yourself stepping out of your $2.1M toy and saying that to someone whose children have died of starvation. Does that give you a slight moral twinge?
This sounds like sys admins for those installations are not doing their jobs properly. They need to set up something to allow non-MS browsers, that they presumably(*) installed on the users' machine in the first place, to check for and install updates on a daily basis. Surely this is not rocket science...
(* The user doesn't have permission to install browser updates, so presumably he cannot have installed the browser in the first place. Ergo the sys admins did.)
Simple. I predict that EU will tell MS to include a tool to download and install the user's choice of browser. And spank them with big fines until they comply.
Failing that, someone will create a CD with copies of all popular browsers and/or downloaders and distribute it for free to PC retail outlets. And if you somehow missed out on getting your copy, your brother or your neighbour will have one. I'm sure that Mozilla, Google, Apple and the Opera guys would chip in some cash to finance this effort.
1) Ubuntu distros include other web browsers. You can choose to install or (fully!) uninstall Firefox and other browsers at any time, including the time you do your initial system install. (Actually, that's not strictly true. You cannot install any version of IE on Ubuntu... because MS won't port it. I wonder why that might be?)
2) Canonical is not using Firefox as a means of illegally stiffling competition in the browser or other markets. Or as a means to lock users into using Ubuntu distros.
It is trivial for MS or an OEM to create a BAT file that will run ftp / wget / etc to fetch an installer from a well known URL. Do this for each browser and create a simple GUI with simple controls to allow the user to select a browser. Then the user just points the mousey thing at the buttoney thing on the screeney thing and does a clicky thing.
It's understandable that they want to keep secrets secret, but isn't covering it up going to draw more attention than fudging the paperwork?
Only if someone digs it up. The problem with fudged paperwork is that someone might figure out the ruse, and start looking for other examples of fudged paperwork. Instead of having to fix a single back-hoed fibre, the unnamed agency may find that many ultra-secret fibres are potentially compromised and need to be replaced. Now THAT would be a waste of tax-payer's money!
Giving the USB drives to a worthy cause (like the Association for the Blind) that can use them is the best idea.
But if you couldn't find a worthy cause that needs them, consider selling them on eBay and giving the money raised to a worthy cause. Hey, you could even buy one of those OxFam / World Vision / etc gift cards and send that to your mother in lieu of an Xmas present. (Depending on your mother of course...)
If you are a Java developer and you are concerned that open Java will die, you can do something about it by joining one of the open source java platform projects. For example JNode: http://jnode.org/ is building a Java based operating system that runs on a bare metal PC (x86 or x86_64).
Hmm... if the level of "trail covering" you are recommending is necessary, then he/she could have given the game away by posting his/her question to Slashdot.
If it is a home server, it is probably sitting idle 95% of the time. If it is a TV box, probably 80%... unless you are a hopeless TV addict. For that 80-95% of the time it is no more useful than a light bulb in a cupboard. (OK, the TV box might be recording something that you might watch later. But unless you actually do watch it, that's just wasted electricity... and factored into my 80% guesstimate.)
If you don't have something really useful to do with it, I think you should either leave it broken, or fix it and give away to someone who can make good use of it.
Consider: if you fix the laptop, plug it into the power and use it for something marginally useful (running Seti@home, using it as TV box, a server, etc) it will sit there consuming power 24x7, doing nothing useful... most of the time. That is like fitting a 100W light bulb in a broom cupboard and leaving it on all the time.
You are paying for the wasted electricity... maybe double if you have an air conditioner... and filling the atmosphere with CO2 for your children / grand-children to deal with.
If you blow up an old booster... or satellite... you only make the space junk problem worse. Instead of 1 large lump of junk that is easy to track and (with luck) avoid, you end up with thousands of smaller lumps, each of which would damage or destroy a satellite.
Slashdot Mirror
The parts of the Google webapps that run on your web browser are delivered to your web browser as Javascript and HTML. It should not be hard to figure out what personal information they send to Google. Besides, if the Chrome OS is really open, you should be able to run webapps from someone you trust rather than Google's web apps.
But most people don't understand about, and mostly don't care about computer security, privacy, etc. So, why would they suddenly care about what Google does? If the Chrome OS fails, it probably won't be because of privacy concerns. A more likely scenario is that that MS will lean on OEMs to not preinstall Chrome OS.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing!
Ummm ... so you are saying that all of those poor people suffering from famine, war and disease in Africa are unfit to be parents?
Anyway, my question was not whether they have a responsibility to feed them. My question is whether you would feel the slightest guilty if you were in that situation.
Imagine yourself stepping out of your $2.1M toy and saying that to someone whose children have died of starvation. Does that give you a slight moral twinge?
(* The user doesn't have permission to install browser updates, so presumably he cannot have installed the browser in the first place. Ergo the sys admins did.)
Asked and answered
Asked and answered.
Result. EU imposes a bigger fine on Microsoft. I really don't think that MS would try something as stupid as that.
Failing that, someone will create a CD with copies of all popular browsers and/or downloaders and distribute it for free to PC retail outlets. And if you somehow missed out on getting your copy, your brother or your neighbour will have one. I'm sure that Mozilla, Google, Apple and the Opera guys would chip in some cash to finance this effort.
1) Ubuntu distros include other web browsers. You can choose to install or (fully!) uninstall Firefox and other browsers at any time, including the time you do your initial system install. (Actually, that's not strictly true. You cannot install any version of IE on Ubuntu ... because MS won't port it. I wonder why that might be?)
2) Canonical is not using Firefox as a means of illegally stiffling competition in the browser or other markets. Or as a means to lock users into using Ubuntu distros.
That's what Microsoft have proposed, but I don't expect that the EU will let them get away with it. They are not stupid.
It is trivial for MS or an OEM to create a BAT file that will run ftp / wget / etc to fetch an installer from a well known URL. Do this for each browser and create a simple GUI with simple controls to allow the user to select a browser. Then the user just points the mousey thing at the buttoney thing on the screeney thing and does a clicky thing.
Only if someone digs it up. The problem with fudged paperwork is that someone might figure out the ruse, and start looking for other examples of fudged paperwork. Instead of having to fix a single back-hoed fibre, the unnamed agency may find that many ultra-secret fibres are potentially compromised and need to be replaced. Now THAT would be a waste of tax-payer's money!
Giving the USB drives to a worthy cause (like the Association for the Blind) that can use them is the best idea. But if you couldn't find a worthy cause that needs them, consider selling them on eBay and giving the money raised to a worthy cause. Hey, you could even buy one of those OxFam / World Vision / etc gift cards and send that to your mother in lieu of an Xmas present. (Depending on your mother of course ...)
If you are a Java developer and you are concerned that open Java will die, you can do something about it by joining one of the open source java platform projects. For example JNode: http://jnode.org/ is building a Java based operating system that runs on a bare metal PC (x86 or x86_64).
Hmm ... if the level of "trail covering" you are recommending is necessary, then he/she could have given the game away by posting his/her question to Slashdot.
I power it off. Don't you?
And don't forget to talk about that gas-guzzling SUV you drive around in, etc, etc.
I think it is time you discussed this with your children.
If it is a home server, it is probably sitting idle 95% of the time. If it is a TV box, probably 80% ... unless you are a hopeless TV addict. For that 80-95% of the time it is no more useful than a light bulb in a cupboard. (OK, the TV box might be recording something that you might watch later. But unless you actually do watch it, that's just wasted electricity ... and factored into my 80% guesstimate.)
Consider: if you fix the laptop, plug it into the power and use it for something marginally useful (running Seti@home, using it as TV box, a server, etc) it will sit there consuming power 24x7, doing nothing useful ... most of the time. That is like fitting a 100W light bulb in a broom cupboard and leaving it on all the time.
You are paying for the wasted electricity ... maybe double if you have an air conditioner ... and filling the atmosphere with CO2 for your children / grand-children to deal with.
send in the Solar Fashion Police :-)
If you blow up an old booster ... or satellite ... you only make the space junk problem worse. Instead of 1 large lump of junk that is easy to track and (with luck) avoid, you end up with thousands of smaller lumps, each of which would damage or destroy a satellite.
... as in voted out at the next election.