> customer: "We standardise on the MS platform, what can you offer us?"
If somebody has some great web-based application, that is just what I need, I'm not going to turn it down just because I would have to download a free browser.
You can still standardize on the MS platform if you use firefox. Ever hear of adobe, intuit, symantec, macafe, or autodesk? Those companies have products that are used by thousands (millions?) of shops that standardize on the MS platform. Just because you use windows doesn't mean you have to use microsoft exclusively.
I have worked in several shops that have windows on every desktop, but lots of people put firefox on their desktop also. It is very common.
Easy to see how OOXML will help msft with msft's vendor-lock scam. I'm not so sure about the zune.
Unless msft can take over the market, then pull a format switch, and maybe mix in some DRM; I can't see the zune helping msft that much. Msft did do that with msie, so I guess it's possible.
Maybe it's a PR thing? Msft can be seen as weak in anything.
The article makes it clear that the technology works as advertised, but the technology may have mis-applied. That is not the fault of the people who developed the technology.
As US vet, and having worked for years for a major defense contractor, and 28 years in IT; it looks to me like another case of people at the top knowing what they are doing.
To begin with, you can not compare smoking to video games. At best, they are completely different kinds of threats.
What about this?
"children who watch violent television shows and who identify with the characters and believe they are real are more likely to be aggressive as adults"
Believe they are real? By the time I was five, I certainly knew that TV characters were not real.
And we all know that people were not violent before TV, right? At risk of invoking Goodwin's law - remember that guy with initials A.H.?
And what is violent? Spiderman? James Bond? Bugs Bunny?
I wish I had a Ph.D in sociology, so I could get big money for being a complete idiot.
> Some individuals and other companies did undoubtedly benefit.
The people who won, are the scammers. Yes, just a few people. The entire company is not behind behind the scam, just a few execs, and they are winning.
> SCO, the company, did not.
Scox, in fact, did. As I mentioned, scox was dead anyway. The scam was planned January 2003, or earlier. In that time, scox share went from $1 to $3 before scox actually filed the lawsuit in March 2003. Scox was *never* profitable - not one profitable quarter ever, and scox was gushing red-ink, and scox did not have much money left. No way in hell could scox have stayed in business this long without the scam.
> Now about these facts.....
Which facts? If you want to challang me on some fact, please be specific. As to scox's financials, I believe those are a matter of public record.
I don't know who modded you down, but as I far as I'm concerned, you are welcome to your suspecions. All kinds of cr@p is going on in this little scam, I wear my own tin-foil hat all the time.
And you observation is correct. IMO: I am trying to be the voice of reason here. I have to roll my eyes every time I read what I consider brain-dead cheer-leading: "Yay!! We win!! We *always* win." If you can support that view, fine. But, although you are critical of my point of view, you have not answered my question: how has scox lost? Really, think about it.
> think you missed the point of the grand parent post. A law saying that "You must use (INSERT FORMAT HERE)" is a problem period
Why is that a problem? Requiring a format is *not* the same as requiring a product. Msft has worked hard to confuse the issue, but requiring a format is not a problem at all, if that format is not tied to a particular product.
What if a government said their web-sites had to developed with valid XHTML?
Scox was as good as dead before the scam - look at their financials, it's a verifiable fact. If not for the scam, scox would have been gone three years ago.
Darl is making $34K a month, which is not bad for a small-time Utah scammer.
Msft got 4.5 years of premium Linux FUD, for about $50 million - hardly pocket change for msft.
BSF pocketed, at least, $50 million.
Riamondi sold his shares in the high teens.
None of the guilty have been punished in any way, and they are not likely to ever be punished.
IBM has probably spent about between 50 and 100 million defending itself against the bogus lawsuit.
Msft has sent this stern warning: "if you want to contribute to Linux, you better be ready to spend tens of millions in lawyer fees, and spend the next five years in court." Can you say "chilling effect?"
People like PJ feel that they need to cheerlead. But, if you objectively examine the facts, I think you will find that in most respects, scox has already won.
>>Law that says i need to use odf format, is as bad as using M$.
Wrong. ODF is honestly open, OOXML is absolutely *not* open. In the OOXML specs there are several sections that essentially say: "do this the same as in Word-95" but the Word-95 specs are still closed.
BTW: ODF does not exclude msft. There are pluggins that allow ms-office to work just fine with ODF. Also, msft is entirely free to incorporate ODF if msft so choses. Msft's claims that ODF excludes msft is pure bullsh!t.
I don't like the MAFFIAA tactics. But, piracy really isn't fair either. Can somebody suggest a better way for software/music/movie companies to protect their rights?
If there are people stupid enough to pay $200 for one of these laptops, the 3rd worlders deserve it. How much does it cost to ship a laptop from Etheopia? Another $100? During "black friday" I could have bought a real laptop for $450.
If I lived in a 3rd world country, I would be glad to have the XO laptop. But, as an average income US citizens, I would much rather pay $650 and get a real laptop.
The keyboards on those XO laptops absolutely suck - even worse than the tiny crappy screens.
You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!
Luke wasn't a jedi until he completed his training and faced vader. Anikin wasn't a jedi until he completed his training and apprenticeship. Leghia (sic?) also had the force, but she wasn't a jedi.
Clearly, the force isn't something that everybody has. And being a jedi isn't just a matter of having the force.
It's being a professional baseball player: it takes natural ability, training, and steroids.
>>They will switch to Vista for a multitude of reasons, one main one is support from Microsoft.
Msft doesn't support their software worth crap. Everybody that I know either goes to local tech support people, or asks a friend, or googles for an answer.
>>The biggest problem Linux has is its lack of a central authority
That is a minor problem, if a problem at all. The real problem with desktop linux adoption is apps and drivers - especially apps. I hear this from people all the time: "I would love to try linux, but won't run quickbooks, or autodesk, or whatever; and it won't work with my combination printer/fax/scanner."
>>If you wrote a book, would you want someone taking all the facts out of your book and publishing it for their own profit? This isn't fair use here.
You may not like it, but there is nothing illegal about it. Copyright means the right to *copy* . Unless you are making a *copy* of Rowling's works, then Rowlings - or her publishers - should not have a case.
People write books about other books all the time.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't it funny the way an article like this comes out, just as msft and intell get all pissy about the XO?
Is it possible that this is just msft using any means possible to slow the spread of linux - or anything non-msft?
> customer: "We standardise on the MS platform, what can you offer us?"
If somebody has some great web-based application, that is just what I need, I'm not going to turn it down just because I would have to download a free browser.
You can still standardize on the MS platform if you use firefox. Ever hear of adobe, intuit, symantec, macafe, or autodesk? Those companies have products that are used by thousands (millions?) of shops that standardize on the MS platform. Just because you use windows doesn't mean you have to use microsoft exclusively.
I have worked in several shops that have windows on every desktop, but lots of people put firefox on their desktop also. It is very common.
Easy to see how OOXML will help msft with msft's vendor-lock scam. I'm not so sure about the zune.
Unless msft can take over the market, then pull a format switch, and maybe mix in some DRM; I can't see the zune helping msft that much. Msft did do that with msie, so I guess it's possible.
Maybe it's a PR thing? Msft can be seen as weak in anything.
The article makes it clear that the technology works as advertised, but the technology may have mis-applied. That is not the fault of the people who developed the technology.
As US vet, and having worked for years for a major defense contractor, and 28 years in IT; it looks to me like another case of people at the top knowing what they are doing.
To begin with, you can not compare smoking to video games. At best, they are completely different kinds of threats.
What about this?
"children who watch violent television shows and who identify with the characters and believe they are real are more likely to be aggressive as adults"
Believe they are real? By the time I was five, I certainly knew that TV characters were not real.
And we all know that people were not violent before TV, right? At risk of invoking Goodwin's law - remember that guy with initials A.H.?
And what is violent? Spiderman? James Bond? Bugs Bunny?
I wish I had a Ph.D in sociology, so I could get big money for being a complete idiot.
> Some individuals and other companies did undoubtedly benefit.
The people who won, are the scammers. Yes, just a few people. The entire company is not behind behind the scam, just a few execs, and they are winning.
> SCO, the company, did not.
Scox, in fact, did. As I mentioned, scox was dead anyway. The scam was planned January 2003, or earlier. In that time, scox share went from $1 to $3 before scox actually filed the lawsuit in March 2003. Scox was *never* profitable - not one profitable quarter ever, and scox was gushing red-ink, and scox did not have much money left. No way in hell could scox have stayed in business this long without the scam.
> Now about these facts.....
Which facts? If you want to challang me on some fact, please be specific. As to scox's financials, I believe those are a matter of public record.
I don't know who modded you down, but as I far as I'm concerned, you are welcome to your suspecions. All kinds of cr@p is going on in this little scam, I wear my own tin-foil hat all the time.
And you observation is correct. IMO: I am trying to be the voice of reason here. I have to roll my eyes every time I read what I consider brain-dead cheer-leading: "Yay!! We win!! We *always* win." If you can support that view, fine. But, although you are critical of my point of view, you have not answered my question: how has scox lost? Really, think about it.
I believe O'Gara is claiming that Gross made a gross mistake, and that his decision will be overturned.
> think you missed the point of the grand parent post. A law saying that "You must use (INSERT FORMAT HERE)" is a problem period
Why is that a problem? Requiring a format is *not* the same as requiring a product. Msft has worked hard to confuse the issue, but requiring a format is not a problem at all, if that format is not tied to a particular product.
What if a government said their web-sites had to developed with valid XHTML?
Scox was as good as dead before the scam - look at their financials, it's a verifiable fact. If not for the scam, scox would have been gone three years ago.
Darl is making $34K a month, which is not bad for a small-time Utah scammer.
Msft got 4.5 years of premium Linux FUD, for about $50 million - hardly pocket change for msft.
BSF pocketed, at least, $50 million.
Riamondi sold his shares in the high teens.
None of the guilty have been punished in any way, and they are not likely to ever be punished.
IBM has probably spent about between 50 and 100 million defending itself against the bogus lawsuit.
Msft has sent this stern warning: "if you want to contribute to Linux, you better be ready to spend tens of millions in lawyer fees, and spend the next five years in court." Can you say "chilling effect?"
People like PJ feel that they need to cheerlead. But, if you objectively examine the facts, I think you will find that in most respects, scox has already won.
>>Law that says i need to use odf format, is as bad as using M$.
Wrong. ODF is honestly open, OOXML is absolutely *not* open. In the OOXML specs there are several sections that essentially say: "do this the same as in Word-95" but the Word-95 specs are still closed.
BTW: ODF does not exclude msft. There are pluggins that allow ms-office to work just fine with ODF. Also, msft is entirely free to incorporate ODF if msft so choses. Msft's claims that ODF excludes msft is pure bullsh!t.
But, I guess, msft has done a good job in hiding that fact.
>>If someone is using the software once and they've paid for it, do you NEED any more rights?
But what if they didn't pay for it? Would you suggest a more sane audit process, or no audit proces at all?
I don't like the MAFFIAA tactics. But, piracy really isn't fair either. Can somebody suggest a better way for software/music/movie companies to protect their rights?
If there are people stupid enough to pay $200 for one of these laptops, the 3rd worlders deserve it. How much does it cost to ship a laptop from Etheopia? Another $100? During "black friday" I could have bought a real laptop for $450.
If I lived in a 3rd world country, I would be glad to have the XO laptop. But, as an average income US citizens, I would much rather pay $650 and get a real laptop.
The keyboards on those XO laptops absolutely suck - even worse than the tiny crappy screens.
Are ebays buyers really that stupid?
You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!
Luke wasn't a jedi until he completed his training and faced vader. Anikin wasn't a jedi until he completed his training and apprenticeship. Leghia (sic?) also had the force, but she wasn't a jedi.
Clearly, the force isn't something that everybody has. And being a jedi isn't just a matter of having the force.
It's being a professional baseball player: it takes natural ability, training, and steroids.
I think that's about what T1 costs. If you want honest, unlimited, 1.5mbs, then isn't that what you should pay?
>>They will switch to Vista for a multitude of reasons, one main one is support from Microsoft.
Msft doesn't support their software worth crap. Everybody that I know either goes to local tech support people, or asks a friend, or googles for an answer.
W2k runs all my apps and hw, runs fast on low-end hardware, doesn't have a fisher-price interface, and doesn't require any online registration.
I dual-boot debian and w2k, I'm hoping that I can go debian only by the w2k is finally killed off.
>>The biggest problem Linux has is its lack of a central authority
That is a minor problem, if a problem at all. The real problem with desktop linux adoption is apps and drivers - especially apps. I hear this from people all the time: "I would love to try linux, but won't run quickbooks, or autodesk, or whatever; and it won't work with my combination printer/fax/scanner."
Wasn't this idea tried years ago? And wasn't it a complete failure? The entire thing is too expensive, and too big a pain.
In fact, most distros prefer it.
>>If you wrote a book, would you want someone taking all the facts out of your book and publishing it for their own profit? This isn't fair use here.
You may not like it, but there is nothing illegal about it. Copyright means the right to *copy* . Unless you are making a *copy* of Rowling's works, then Rowlings - or her publishers - should not have a case.
People write books about other books all the time.
I don't really care. But, it seems to me that the real money is in the movies.
If they put up the old comics for free, maybe ad supported, it might generate more interest in the movies.