X is a supressed technology. Supressed in that it's remote display capabilities are something Microsoft has diligently kept out of its operating system. Why? Because Microsoft wants you to buy a copy of each application for every machine you own.
Kinda makes NGWS look like a bad joke, don't it? You are entirely correct, but you left out something: X is configurable beyond M$ users' wildest imaginings.
Also, X supports a wider variety of input device technologies, and it's easier to create new ones for X than it is Windoze.
I'm not saying we don't need a better, next-generation system...
I'll say it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I love X, and won't give it up. The size is trivial for today's machines, and it's still smaller than Windoze. Significantly faster, too. Furthermore, with QNX and LynuxWorks (formerly LynxOS), embedded is moving to X, not away from it. Expect smaller, faster, cleaner unix in general, including X...
I've seen a post from someone in Germany that states that Microsoft has 98% of the desktop marketshare in Germany.
I replied to that post here. You might want to understand that percentage of OS sales does not constituet percentage of OS in use, esp when Open Source OS's are not sold over the counter; and M$ is automatically shipped with every box. What they are actually saying is that "98% of computers shipped with M$ installed." I was addressing actual usage, which is a different animal.
I stand by the numbers, although as I pointed out, they are a few years old (circa 1997), I seriously doubt that the percentages have changed much over the last 3 or so years. I will look for the resource, but I doubt it is publicly available anymore, since it was M$ hype, and they don't like to keep that sort of thing lying about where it can be used.
I have also heard that eastern europe and Russia have overwhelmingly large percentages of MSDOS installations compared to Windoze, but that is purely anecdotal information, passed as an explanation of why M$ supported the bombing and continued conflict in the balkans....
What makes you think "the/. crowd" (or any other group, for that matter) is not lobbying bitching whining moaning etc? Do you have some unspecified knowledge of their/our activities? Do you not include yourself in "the/. crowd"?
I get really ill of you holier-than-thou, wannabe activists. Have you ever tried the actions your reccomend? When's the last time you were quietly dismissed from a position, for reasons "totally unrelated" to that complaint you made to your congressional "representative"?
When's the last time you were audited by the IRS for sending a complaint to congress about M$ paying off a congressional comitee to get special consideration in the acquisition budget? Are slashdotters not supposed to care that these things could happen to them? Do you imagine that they are so dedicated to being "cool" that they will throw away any potential financial power they may gain simply to support your misguided political ideal -- that politicians are responsive to thier constituency? Hah! I say, and Bah!
Money and guns is power, as the govt already knows quite well.
In the meantime, little harm occurs to those who violate these rights.
Harm will not be broght to your oppressors because you whine to them. Nor will your burden of oppression be lightened. In fact, they will come down on you all the harder, since you have spare breath, time, and energy to whine to them.
Harm may be brought to them through use of intelligence, weapons, explosives, etc, but don't count on it, since you are being watched, and they (these alleged representatives of yours) will have you killed if you become enough of a nuisance. They won't make you a martyr, either, they'll paint you a criminal.
Yes, money rules politics. But so does the ballot box.
The ballot box is only one part of the equation that includes the soapbox, the ammo box, and the jury box. And no, the ballot box does not "rule". It's not even close. In fact, its use has been totally obviated by the party system. Your contempt for the ability of "the/. crowd" to understand this simple political reality is manifest in your condescending tone.
Political activism was pretty well shown to be futile throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Tens of thousands of people did as you encourage, over decades. What happened? Those people aren't around anymore, and the regime is more oppressive than ever.
History has shown (repeatedly) that the type of thing you are advocating is a pretty good way to waste your life, and not much else. Specifically, oppressive regimes will single you out for repression if you make yourself visible enough to them.
As cool as/. is, it affects policy only marginally.
You think/. is "cool"? You think that's why people post here? You must be a politician.
Slashdot is left in place for the same reason most other pseudo-free speech is allowed: To make it easier for the PTB to monitor dissent. Evidence the fact that you have posted your propaganda here; your bullshit, if believed by some innocent who doesn't understand the stakes involved here, could easily cost someone a career or a life; could cause your victim to be further maginalized or disenfranchised in any of dozens of ways....
In short, Rev, you're a troll of the worst sort. Which campaign are you working for?
"You have the right to free speech... unless you are stupid enough to actually try it" -- The Clash
Well, I was reluctant to offer it, as well, but...obviously, it will be borne out or not, over time. *shrug* And I am offering it at a deep discount... Plus, you can almost certainly resell it, probably for as much or more than you paid for it!
The legal right to resale offers MS no benefits over that strategy, and moreover prevents that last crucial step of cracking down and enforcing new sales.
It's a blood sacrifice to NGWS.
They need an installed base to get NGWS off the ground, and they weren't getting it (contrary to US popular opinion, the M$ user-base remains relatively small outside the US).
M$ foreign sales has two problems: Poor Quality, and Odious Licensing Terms, (there is also the problem of predatory tactics failing, but they are addressing that separately).
M$ can't go head-to-head with anybody based on quality, but they could do something about the EULA. What they have done is make it a) legal and b) cheap (for the end user, which is who counts in this strategy) to install M$ software.
In the short term, M$ (installs) in Germany will go up, since they are now legal, and everybody and his brother will be selling Windoze for... [whatever currency conversion]... on the street corner. M$ isn't losing anything, since they're not making money on that market now.
Once there is an installed base, M$ starts moving it to NGWS (probably without even asking for the users' permission, if there are enough copies of win2k involved).
It's the classic 'captive audience' scenario applied with a twist, with a little extra effort to make the capture, since the audience is mostly disinterested...
Their market share is about 98% on the Desktop...Don't know exactly about the server, but until a few months I worked at a very big Corporation, over 10.000 Desktops...all NT 4.0 and all the servers (quite a lot) where NT server blah,blah...
Yer dreamin', friend. I could be a bit off (I did get my figures from M$, and it was a couple years ago), but your "98% on the desktop" number is pure FUD. That's M$ Marketting's target number, not reallity.
I'm quite happy to have a Linux-admin job now...
Don't try to suck up to support your ridiculous claims you pathetic sleaze!
You make it sound like Microsoft has desperately wanted people to be able to resell Windows, but if it weren't for this court ruling, Microsoft would have no recourse of its own to allow that. They themselves have been the ones enforcing EULAs with that very prohibition. Did you mispeak, or did I misread?
I think M$ found that their illegal EULA was seriously impacting their sales in Germany, and contrived to find a way to remove the EULA for German sales, without affecting the EULA for, say US sales, where they are continuing to "get away with it"... it's a practical matter, since if they volutarily quit enforcing the EULA somewhere, their attempts to enforce it anywhere will be viewed with more suspicion.
They traded out enforcement of the EULA in Germany for German sales, without losing enforcement of the EULA in other markets. They knew this would happen when they brought the suit, imo.... This is a win for M$, short term, at least.
From what I understand, Microsoft does believe that unbundling Windows is the same as piracy.
Heh. Yes. M$ also believes that they produce an operating system that's a viable alternative for computing in the 21st century. The fact of thier belief does not create a reality, nor, as the German High Court pointed out, does their belief bear the weight of law...
My point was that this decision will probably lead to more sales of M$ products in Germany, since up until now thier illegal EULA has been, I am sure, a large factor in keeping their European software sales to a minimum.
M$ would not wish to be percieved as having volutarily done away with thier EULA, since the amerikan market does not demand that they do so, and I'm sure it (the EULA) adds significantly to their profit margin on US sales.
It also helps keep people in line, of course... Can't have all that chaotic buying and selling of things that have already been sold once, can we? I mean, my goddess, what if someone, say, bought a bar of soap, yeah, a bar of soap; what if they bought a bar of soap, cut it in half, and sold each half seperately! Then they go out an buy more bars of soap, and do the same thing all over again. Clearly, that is chaotic, immoral, criminal activity, and if M$ is going to make soap... er, software... they cannot allow the unbundling and resale of the product.
The obvious solution is for them to find a way to have the EULA struck in Germany (or whereever) so they can effectively market software there, while keeping the EULA gravy-train going in places where they are getting away with it. The M$ EULA is no less illegal under US law than it is under German law. The Germans chose to enforce the law, even though there might be some (short-term, one could hope) benefit to M$, whereas the amerikan sheeple will suffer along pretending not to notice the reaming they're getting from M$.
It is really sad that the US is now seeing a resugence of free-market, capitalist principles in action.... from other countries.
I found the article generally uninformative about Microsoft...
Yes, it was about a court decision, not about M$. However, implications for M$ sales in Germany due to this decision are clear. M$ sales have always been weak in Germany (compared to certain other countries), and they (M$) are moving to bolster their position there. They apparently believe that the main thing hurting their sales there has been their restrictive (illegal under German Law, it now appears) licensing....
Since Germans can now buy and sell windoze like any other piece of work, M$ hopes their sales will increase, undercutting the strong Linux/BSD support that has been emanating from.de this last decade or so.
The whole spiel about how once an item enters the marketplace, the author loses some rights to control the terms of secondary sales. This seems like a very big deal considering how big secondary sales are. This ruling could have a serious effect on sales of software in Germany.
I don't know about German copyright law, specifically, but I believe under International copyright agreements, the principle of right of secondary sale has been pretty much what it is for some long time now. The German court just affirmed that Yes, this law applies to M$ just like it does to everyone else. This is not a precendent except WRT to M$, who always seems to feel that they should me exempt from laws that they don't like....
If I am a big software company, do I want to sell it to a secondary sales company and lose my rights to protect the terms under which that item is resold?
As a copyright holder, you don't have any right to control secondary sales. Period. That was already the case, and the court affirmed it.
M$ has long tried to gain control of secondary sales through use of an EULA. This EULA legally invalidates their copyright (as I understand it). Hence, the judge could have struck down either their copyright, or their EULA....
It would have been better for the consumer if the court had invalidated the M$ copyright, imo, but I'm sure M$ knew that before they allowed this to go to trial. The decision they recieved will benefit them (M$) far more than it will anyone else, since it clears the way for M$ sales in germany. Such sales were legally very dubious prior to this decision by the court.
I think it's very clear where this will lead: To an attack by M$ on the established Open Source/Linux/BSD communities in Germany.
What effect (if any) will this have on other OS'es in Germany [...] Do you think that it will encourage Linux\BSD et all? Or are they just going to pirate Win2K.
Last I heard M$ had a less than 30% market share in germany, anyway. This court decision could concievably boost M$ sales in Germany. Too bad, since traditionally europeans haven't been quite so careless about software purchases as amerikans.
What makes you think they would pirate Win2k now that this court decision clears the air for purchase of it? You don't think M$ let this come to trial by accident, do you?
Well, excuse me for pointing this out, but Timothy what's his name who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma wasn't a Muslim, wasn't a foreigner, wasn't a homosexual and wasn't an "enviro-nazi".
Excuse me, but what are you responding to here? I know I damn well am not advocating any allowances of violation of civil rights by US Federal law enforcement. You attention span apparently doesn't extend more than 1.5 posts in either direction from the current post. While this may be typical of many slashdotters, I consider it insufficient for rational or reasonable discussion...
You're preaching to the choir, here, bud. I was only trying to make the point that the story the lead this discussion was written in such a way as to mislead the reader about the real reasons for the FBI's action.
Don't feel bad, you're about the 3rd person to respond who doesn't seem to be able to understand the point, and the fact that you don't address that point doesn't make your comments about MLK, McVeigh, et al any less valid...
NOW you can try and justify violations of, and limits on, our civil rights "so the government can protect us".
Well, first, I don't need your permission or instruction to do a damn thing, nor is the logic of my remarks dependant on anything you may or may not have said; and secondly, I was not, am not, and will not try to make any such justification as you apparently suppose.
You might try directing your comment at some of the many (a majority of the posters, I believe) here who are trying to make precisely the justifications you mention...
(3) It's easier to draw a line in the sand to block a $5bn deal with a Japanese state controlled telecoms company than to later try to block a $100bn deal with a German state controlled company (Deutsche Telekom/Sprint).
[...]
(#3) is probably too clever for anyone inside the Beltway.
Heh. Perhaps, but maybe not for their Masters.
Any data on how much of NTT M$ owns? I know the were trying to get a piece of DT awhile back (see the WTO threats against DT), and have invested heavily in telecomms worldwide (ATT,Qwest, in US), but don't have hard numbers.
They 'have access' by virtue of the fact that Verio is currently within FBI jurisdiction. That does not necessarily imply that they have had physical access at any point prior to this. It's a question of maintaining jurisdiction.
I realize that. However, it doesn't mean the don't own a collocated server at Verio, either...
They are trying to protect something, and it's not just the right to wiretap, imo.
1. It would harm diplomatic relations between the US and those countries. Remember that even though the USA considers them to be a "risk", we are at peace, so there is not legitimate excuse for banning people from coming here to study.
More diplomatic harm than, say, ECHELON? Wiretaps on foreign nationals? I think not. That is the function of the State Dept: to say "No" and do it in an inoffensive way.
2. Students who come here to study, are a source of revenue. Are you willing to pay the Universities for the lost revenues?
If National Security is really the issue, the revenue is an illusion, since the attempt to collect it compromises National Security. No, I am not willing to bear the cost of the "lost" revenue. It's not really "lost" anyway. That's the same mentality that pretends sales not made are a "loss".
3. Students who come here to study are bound to pick up some of our ideals and take them back to their country. This is how the ancient Greeks expanded: not by war, but by passing on their civilisation.
Hah. The there is no security risk, eh? Clearly you have not met any muslim fundamentalist students...
4. Who are you to deny those people of their freedom to study what they want and where they want? What you are proposing is fascist.
a) I didn't propose anything, I posed the question that, if the allegation that these individuals (foreign national students) are a security risk is a reason for the FBI to wiretap, and oppose foreign ownership of telecomms, why then do they not take more direct action? My point being that they are not doing this (opposing the NTT takeover) for the reasons cited in the post to which I was responding, but for reasons which are as yet unstated...
b) The idea I posed as a question is not fascist, it is protectionist.
c) Who am I to ask these questions? I don't think that matters. What matters is why it bothers people (you) that I question the obviously false assertions being made in support of the FBI's actions. Your implication that I do not have the right to question it -- now that's fascist -- but then that's the nature of the State these days, isn't it?
d) "Freedom to study where they want" is bullshit. Attendance at a US university is a priviledge, not a right. If you don't believe it, try to get into one. That priviledge has been denied to many for reasons a lot more trivial than "National Security" or "subversive activities".
Once upon a time I thought I lived in a free country, and that the American people cared enough to keep it that way.
Don't feel bad, a lot of us were tricked that way, early on. Just be glad you woke up.
Now I read post after post saying that the FBI should be able to squelch a legitimate business deal between private parties
Something strange is going on at slashdot. I noticed the mood has turned overwhelmingly pro-M$, as well, in spite of the fact that the pro-M$, pro-FBI, pro-whatever posters still attempt to portray themselves as a beleagured minority... Really wierd.
the federal government should be treated as a dangerous (if useful) animal
Useful? What, is it good to eat? The pelts aren't worth a damn, I know....
We need to start closing up our borders and taking care of our own before we provide some fledgling terrorist with the education that he needs to blow us to Kindgom Come.
If that's what the FBI is trying to address, why don't they start reccomending that student VISAs be denied, discourage universities from accepting foreign nationals into potentially sensitive fields of study, etc?
An NTT spokesman told the Journal a pending U.S. government review of the deal is a response to FBI and Justice Department concerns that law-enforcement agencies maintain access to Verio's Internet structure to obtain wiretaps and serve subpoenas for information.
Note the use of the word "maintain"; they are saying they currently have access to Verio's 'internet structure'.
How would they (the Feds) lose that access due to the NTT purchase? Don't foreign corporations doing business in the US have to abide by US laws?
I think there is something else going on here that has not come out yet. Why is NTT interested in a small-time Colorado ISP, that's operating at a loss? Follow the money.
This is the beginning of the M$ counter-strike against the US govt...
The real problem is to find good educational software for Social Studies, for instance. But I have already seen some. So give! What is it? Is it Open Source?
I agree with this as it's a haven for electronic graffiti.
Graffiti? What graffiti? This is data. There is a diference between 'data' and 'information', which is what most of the twits in policy positions don't seem to get.
That said, I have to point out that the internet is computers, and computers are the internet. The internet is just a distrubuted computer, and you can program it just like you do a handheld -- well, the concepts are the same, anyway. Programming is programming, whether it's programming a machine, or a human brain. Programming can be taught with or without computers.
Also, the internet does not prevent learning. Lack of a sufficient knowledge base prevents learning. Most internet users are too clueless to learn anything from the net. That is not the fault of the net or the computers. It may have something to do with poor reading comprehension skills in the population being studied...
Your complaint reminds me of someone who complains that a hammer prevents work from being done by not being a saw...
well, i was 10 years old 14 years ago, when oregon trail was educational software for the apple ][. that was about 1986.
Ouch..... ouch..... i'm not even going to go there.... my joints ache too much on these cold mornings...
the problem with "computers in the classroom" is the educational administration (not the teachers) aren't making good decisions [emphasis mine]
Yes, I think the administration is the crux of the problem (not just with technology, either). I think many people blame "teachers" without understanding that there is a profound and important difference between school administrators (who are basically politicians) and teachers. Seems like people don't really start to get it until the start trying to figure out what the problem is with their children's school.
Many, if not most, problems in the educational system stem from uninformed decisions made by administrators, imo.
I'll answer these from the perspective of watching what's going on in middle school (K12 in general) now, since there were no computers in schools when I was in school...
1) which would you teach programming to a middle school student with: a) an apple II with logo and BASIC. b) a pentium III running Microsoft Visual Studio.
Are those the only two choices? Between them, a), but then, what about word processing? Spreadsheets? These are the primary focus of most schools, these days. I don't know of one that teaches 'programming'. I reccomend unix workstations running X even at the elemetary school level. They're cheaper than DOS/Win boxes now, too. Let the kids learn gcc or perl -- or any of the any other myriad languages avaiable for *nix -- if they want to program....
2) how many of you had computer classes in school that consisted of playing "oregon trail"?
Never even heard of it. Probably after my time.
3) do you think that computers in classrooms are being used to teach computer skills, or as glorified slide projectors?
I think they are used like alphabet blocks, only not as effectively. The slide projector-type usage seems to have died pretty fast, since it's *boring*, and kids don't tolerate boring very well. Mostly they sit there to gratify parents and administrators, and server no practical purpose whatsoever. Some of the kids are learning to do basic word processing on them, tho.
4) how much does it cost to get large coporations to donate their old XT's and apples to your school? (hint: they're dying to use this as a tax writeoff).
Well, I know when I was in college Sun and ATT donated us some unix boxen, and the administration locked them up behind steel fire doors to keep the CS students (me) away from them. They were in the process of pursuiing a grant for several hundred IBM PCs running Windoze. They got the grant, and now allow only M$ and IBM Mainframe (COBOL) stuff (I don't know what happened to the Suns, I never went back).
Donated equipment is great. If you can get the administration to let them use it, the kids love it.
5) do you need a pentium III to teach assembly to a child? will an XT do? might an old XT or an apple be better?
You're being facetious, right? Give them a box, and let them program the CPU in hex. Put LEDs on the box. They'll love it. Then let them try it on the Apple/C64/Xt/whatever. Show them the relationships. Pentium whould be.... childs play... ahem.
well i'm all for keeping 10-year-old third graders off of slashdot. we've got too many 30-year-old third graders already.
I have been encouraging 11-year-olds to read and post. They started out saying that they "didn't want to look stupid", but I dispelled those fears by showing them some of the posts.... I find your average 10- or 12-year-old is capable of a lot more incisive commentary than about 50% of the posters you see here.
I think the single most important computer skill children should be taught is how to use a text editor. Everything else can build on that.
I have talked with all my friends, some of them extremely well-informed and intelligent people, and I could barely get an ounce of concern out of them.
I have experienced the same phenomenon. There are two reactions I get quite regularly:
"Impossible. The technology isn't good enough to let them spy on that scale. You're just paranoid."
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it anyway. Why should I care? It s still the freest country in the world."
Slashdot Mirror
Also, X supports a wider variety of input device technologies, and it's easier to create new ones for X than it is Windoze.
I'll say it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I love X, and won't give it up. The size is trivial for today's machines, and it's still smaller than Windoze. Significantly faster, too. Furthermore, with QNX and LynuxWorks (formerly LynxOS), embedded is moving to X, not away from it. Expect smaller, faster, cleaner unix in general, including X...The article sounds like sour grapes, to me.
And secondly, could you get something on LSD, I never cared for meth?
Thanks,
I really like your .sig, btw.
I stand by the numbers, although as I pointed out, they are a few years old (circa 1997), I seriously doubt that the percentages have changed much over the last 3 or so years. I will look for the resource, but I doubt it is publicly available anymore, since it was M$ hype, and they don't like to keep that sort of thing lying about where it can be used.
I have also heard that eastern europe and Russia have overwhelmingly large percentages of MSDOS installations compared to Windoze, but that is purely anecdotal information, passed as an explanation of why M$ supported the bombing and continued conflict in the balkans....
I get really ill of you holier-than-thou, wannabe activists. Have you ever tried the actions your reccomend? When's the last time you were quietly dismissed from a position, for reasons "totally unrelated" to that complaint you made to your congressional "representative"?
When's the last time you were audited by the IRS for sending a complaint to congress about M$ paying off a congressional comitee to get special consideration in the acquisition budget? Are slashdotters not supposed to care that these things could happen to them? Do you imagine that they are so dedicated to being "cool" that they will throw away any potential financial power they may gain simply to support your misguided political ideal -- that politicians are responsive to thier constituency? Hah! I say, and Bah!
Money and guns is power, as the govt already knows quite well.
Harm will not be broght to your oppressors because you whine to them. Nor will your burden of oppression be lightened. In fact, they will come down on you all the harder, since you have spare breath, time, and energy to whine to them.Harm may be brought to them through use of intelligence, weapons, explosives, etc, but don't count on it, since you are being watched, and they (these alleged representatives of yours) will have you killed if you become enough of a nuisance. They won't make you a martyr, either, they'll paint you a criminal.
The ballot box is only one part of the equation that includes the soapbox, the ammo box, and the jury box. And no, the ballot box does not "rule". It's not even close. In fact, its use has been totally obviated by the party system. Your contempt for the ability of "thePolitical activism was pretty well shown to be futile throughout the 1960's and 1970's. Tens of thousands of people did as you encourage, over decades. What happened? Those people aren't around anymore, and the regime is more oppressive than ever.
History has shown (repeatedly) that the type of thing you are advocating is a pretty good way to waste your life, and not much else. Specifically, oppressive regimes will single you out for repression if you make yourself visible enough to them.
You thinkSlashdot is left in place for the same reason most other pseudo-free speech is allowed: To make it easier for the PTB to monitor dissent. Evidence the fact that you have posted your propaganda here; your bullshit, if believed by some innocent who doesn't understand the stakes involved here, could easily cost someone a career or a life; could cause your victim to be further maginalized or disenfranchised in any of dozens of ways....
In short, Rev, you're a troll of the worst sort. Which campaign are you working for?
"You have the right to free speech ... unless you are stupid enough to actually try it" -- The Clash
They need an installed base to get NGWS off the ground, and they weren't getting it (contrary to US popular opinion, the M$ user-base remains relatively small outside the US).
M$ foreign sales has two problems: Poor Quality, and Odious Licensing Terms, (there is also the problem of predatory tactics failing, but they are addressing that separately).
M$ can't go head-to-head with anybody based on quality, but they could do something about the EULA. What they have done is make it a) legal and b) cheap (for the end user, which is who counts in this strategy) to install M$ software.
In the short term, M$ (installs) in Germany will go up, since they are now legal, and everybody and his brother will be selling Windoze for ... [whatever currency conversion] ... on the street corner. M$ isn't losing anything, since they're not making money on that market now.
Once there is an installed base, M$ starts moving it to NGWS (probably without even asking for the users' permission, if there are enough copies of win2k involved).
It's the classic 'captive audience' scenario applied with a twist, with a little extra effort to make the capture, since the audience is mostly disinterested...
They traded out enforcement of the EULA in Germany for German sales, without losing enforcement of the EULA in other markets. They knew this would happen when they brought the suit, imo.... This is a win for M$, short term, at least.
See also: another of my comments about this
My point was that this decision will probably lead to more sales of M$ products in Germany, since up until now thier illegal EULA has been, I am sure, a large factor in keeping their European software sales to a minimum.
M$ would not wish to be percieved as having volutarily done away with thier EULA, since the amerikan market does not demand that they do so, and I'm sure it (the EULA) adds significantly to their profit margin on US sales.
It also helps keep people in line, of course... Can't have all that chaotic buying and selling of things that have already been sold once, can we? I mean, my goddess, what if someone, say, bought a bar of soap, yeah, a bar of soap; what if they bought a bar of soap, cut it in half, and sold each half seperately! Then they go out an buy more bars of soap, and do the same thing all over again. Clearly, that is chaotic, immoral, criminal activity, and if M$ is going to make soap ... er, software... they cannot allow the unbundling and resale of the product.
The obvious solution is for them to find a way to have the EULA struck in Germany (or whereever) so they can effectively market software there, while keeping the EULA gravy-train going in places where they are getting away with it. The M$ EULA is no less illegal under US law than it is under German law. The Germans chose to enforce the law, even though there might be some (short-term, one could hope) benefit to M$, whereas the amerikan sheeple will suffer along pretending not to notice the reaming they're getting from M$.
It is really sad that the US is now seeing a resugence of free-market, capitalist principles in action.... from other countries.
Since Germans can now buy and sell windoze like any other piece of work, M$ hopes their sales will increase, undercutting the strong Linux/BSD support that has been emanating from .de this last decade or so.
I don't know about German copyright law, specifically, but I believe under International copyright agreements, the principle of right of secondary sale has been pretty much what it is for some long time now. The German court just affirmed that Yes, this law applies to M$ just like it does to everyone else. This is not a precendent except WRT to M$, who always seems to feel that they should me exempt from laws that they don't like.... As a copyright holder, you don't have any right to control secondary sales. Period. That was already the case, and the court affirmed it.M$ has long tried to gain control of secondary sales through use of an EULA. This EULA legally invalidates their copyright (as I understand it). Hence, the judge could have struck down either their copyright, or their EULA....
It would have been better for the consumer if the court had invalidated the M$ copyright, imo, but I'm sure M$ knew that before they allowed this to go to trial. The decision they recieved will benefit them (M$) far more than it will anyone else, since it clears the way for M$ sales in germany. Such sales were legally very dubious prior to this decision by the court.
I think it's very clear where this will lead: To an attack by M$ on the established Open Source/Linux/BSD communities in Germany.
What makes you think they would pirate Win2k now that this court decision clears the air for purchase of it? You don't think M$ let this come to trial by accident, do you?
You're preaching to the choir, here, bud. I was only trying to make the point that the story the lead this discussion was written in such a way as to mislead the reader about the real reasons for the FBI's action.
Don't feel bad, you're about the 3rd person to respond who doesn't seem to be able to understand the point, and the fact that you don't address that point doesn't make your comments about MLK, McVeigh, et al any less valid...
Well, first, I don't need your permission or instruction to do a damn thing, nor is the logic of my remarks dependant on anything you may or may not have said; and secondly, I was not, am not, and will not try to make any such justification as you apparently suppose.You might try directing your comment at some of the many (a majority of the posters, I believe) here who are trying to make precisely the justifications you mention...
Watch where you point that thing!
Any data on how much of NTT M$ owns? I know the were trying to get a piece of DT awhile back (see the WTO threats against DT), and have invested heavily in telecomms worldwide (ATT,Qwest, in US), but don't have hard numbers.
Thanks again.
They are trying to protect something, and it's not just the right to wiretap, imo.
b) The idea I posed as a question is not fascist, it is protectionist.
c) Who am I to ask these questions? I don't think that matters. What matters is why it bothers people (you) that I question the obviously false assertions being made in support of the FBI's actions. Your implication that I do not have the right to question it -- now that's fascist -- but then that's the nature of the State these days, isn't it?
d) "Freedom to study where they want" is bullshit. Attendance at a US university is a priviledge, not a right. If you don't believe it, try to get into one. That priviledge has been denied to many for reasons a lot more trivial than "National Security" or "subversive activities".
How would they (the Feds) lose that access due to the NTT purchase? Don't foreign corporations doing business in the US have to abide by US laws?
I think there is something else going on here that has not come out yet. Why is NTT interested in a small-time Colorado ISP, that's operating at a loss? Follow the money.
This is the beginning of the M$ counter-strike against the US govt...
The real problem is to find good educational software for Social Studies, for instance. But I have already seen some. So give! What is it? Is it Open Source?
That said, I have to point out that the internet is computers, and computers are the internet. The internet is just a distrubuted computer, and you can program it just like you do a handheld -- well, the concepts are the same, anyway. Programming is programming, whether it's programming a machine, or a human brain. Programming can be taught with or without computers.
Also, the internet does not prevent learning. Lack of a sufficient knowledge base prevents learning. Most internet users are too clueless to learn anything from the net. That is not the fault of the net or the computers. It may have something to do with poor reading comprehension skills in the population being studied...
Your complaint reminds me of someone who complains that a hammer prevents work from being done by not being a saw...
Many, if not most, problems in the educational system stem from uninformed decisions made by administrators, imo.
I'll answer these from the perspective of watching what's going on in middle school (K12 in general) now, since there were no computers in schools when I was in school...
Are those the only two choices? Between them, a), but then, what about word processing? Spreadsheets? These are the primary focus of most schools, these days. I don't know of one that teaches 'programming'. I reccomend unix workstations running X even at the elemetary school level. They're cheaper than DOS/Win boxes now, too. Let the kids learn gcc or perl -- or any of the any other myriad languages avaiable for *nix -- if they want to program.... Never even heard of it. Probably after my time. I think they are used like alphabet blocks, only not as effectively. The slide projector-type usage seems to have died pretty fast, since it's *boring*, and kids don't tolerate boring very well. Mostly they sit there to gratify parents and administrators, and server no practical purpose whatsoever. Some of the kids are learning to do basic word processing on them, tho. Well, I know when I was in college Sun and ATT donated us some unix boxen, and the administration locked them up behind steel fire doors to keep the CS students (me) away from them. They were in the process of pursuiing a grant for several hundred IBM PCs running Windoze. They got the grant, and now allow only M$ and IBM Mainframe (COBOL) stuff (I don't know what happened to the Suns, I never went back).Donated equipment is great. If you can get the administration to let them use it, the kids love it.
You're being facetious, right? Give them a box, and let them program the CPU in hex. Put LEDs on the box. They'll love it. Then let them try it on the Apple/C64/Xt/whatever. Show them the relationships. Pentium whould beI think the single most important computer skill children should be taught is how to use a text editor. Everything else can build on that.
freedom is illusion; illusion is freedom
There is an alternative to the Republicrats. Question is are there enough Amerikan voters who remain un-brainwashed by the Amerikan Corpratist State.
Judging by what I'm seeing here, I doubt it...