YouTube paid off the media companies that could scuttle it's sale deal and tie YouTube up in court for years. Then, those media companines went after companies similar to YouTube.
This is an interesting variation on greenmail and greymail. Nothing sinister gonig on.
Ok, so you want to get out the ruler. I have been using Linux on and off since the mid 90s. I currently run SuSE and WinXP. I have run Slackware, RH, Mandrake, and a few other distros.
I can go to a store and buy a software package and install it on WinXP and it will install and run with no problems 99% of the time.
I can go get an application for linux and try to install it on 10 different distros and it might install on half of them without problem.
The biggest complaints I get from users are:
unable to find, install, and run applications
hardware support
crappy applications
no documentation
I have been using linux for years. I used it exclusively for several years. I am thinking of going back to Windows, but may go for a Mac instead. I may keep linux for server purposes but I am tired of doing twice the work.
Ok, fine. But you can never again complain about bot infested Windoze machines. You can't complain about Windoze specific worms and trojans. Don't complain about closed source drivers, buggy drivers, or lack of hardware support. Don't complain if the number of people using linux declines or if linux gets shunted off to the embedded and cheap server market.
Why, you ask? Because you just said you don't want linux to be part of the solution. You want it to forever remain a niche market product
Most of the world has poor grasp of technology. Even in the most developed countries, the average citizen has, at best, a marginal grasp of technology. Politicians are too busy being politicians to actual develop a good understanding of technology.
OK, no DRM means that the file will be transferrable. That is just a fact of life.
If you don't go the DRM route, you might as well just set up a website with a standard store and sell the files and a donation button so people can "tip" you. This is not difficult and could be done in a few days. Of course you are going to have to hope that
People don't get your music off a torrent from the 4 people who paid the $1.00 to get the song
Those people that do get your song off of a torrent actual bother to go to your website and then actually "tip" you.
Your band can literally be the test case for musicians using micropayments as a means of making a living as so many people claim is possible.
One other thing, you can try this with one or two songs to start. That way you don't give away your entire catalog.
Standing up for freedom of speech. Who do they think they are? Don't they know that it is evil to give people a forum for unpopular opinions? Next thing you know, they will be refusing to hand over people's identifying data!
See the problem most people have with freedom of speech is not that it applies to them, but rather that it applies to people with ideas they dispise.
You can not limit speech to just speech you like and/or agree with and still say you have freedom of speech.
This is not about bug fixes. This is about actual support. If you want to talk bug fixes, let's talk about the cost of hiring someone or a group of people to fix the program. A business is not going to want to hire someone to do it, so it will probably be contracted out. I figure they will be charged no less than $100 per man hour unless they off-shore it. And, in the end, they don't have any guarrenty that the fix will not introduce new bugs.
As for the perils of proprietary software you list, how many FLOSS projects stall and die because the developer looses interest. How many languish for years because the developers got it good enough for them or lost interest or decided to work on something else? I see it all the time.
Well, that is half the work. For this instance, he should do a cost benefit analysis.
Just providing costs comparisons boils down to "Your way costs X, my way cost Y." But, that may not matter to someone who wants to be buzz-word compliant. When an executive gets it in his head that "this" is better than "that", the best way to handle it is to show that "this" will give a give a crappy ROI while "that" will give a great ROI.
Unfortunately, sometimes even that does not work and you end up doing it the boss' way, becaue he is the boss.
It is not a frozen cube of wiskey. It is supposed to be some ultra high tech storage system where you can turn liquids into a solid and store them at room temperature by stacking them up. That is why it looks like a cube of plastic.
It's always been our position that if enough people go on the air with their stations, the FCC will be overwhelmed and unable to respond.
If enough people go on the air with their stations, then the interference will render all the stations useless. There is a limited number of frequencies and if stations are too close together, you get interference. Interference degrages the usefullness of radio by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. You kill that which you would use.
That is irrelevent. Who brought MSDOS to market? Microsoft. What O/S shipped with PC for until about 1995? MSDOS.
MSDOS was in the field before GNU/Linux. There are you happy now?
Stop being a dumbass and start actually reading what is being said. "First mover" is not about innovation and new products. "First mover" is about who made the first move. Just like whoever is white in chess moves first. In most contests, the one how moves first has an advantage to win. This is called "first mover" advantage. Nothing you say will change the fact that Microsoft has that advantage.
Microsoft has "first mover" advantage. Part of first mover advantage is installed user base. Part is familiarity. Part is known quantity and reputation. Part is OEM contracts.
Slashdot Mirror
So, in 4 years he will have an obsolete computer.
BFD
This is an interesting variation on greenmail and greymail. Nothing sinister gonig on.
Here's your tin foil hat.
I can go to a store and buy a software package and install it on WinXP and it will install and run with no problems 99% of the time.
I can go get an application for linux and try to install it on 10 different distros and it might install on half of them without problem.
The biggest complaints I get from users are:
I have been using linux for years. I used it exclusively for several years. I am thinking of going back to Windows, but may go for a Mac instead. I may keep linux for server purposes but I am tired of doing twice the work.
Ok, fine. But you can never again complain about bot infested Windoze machines. You can't complain about Windoze specific worms and trojans. Don't complain about closed source drivers, buggy drivers, or lack of hardware support. Don't complain if the number of people using linux declines or if linux gets shunted off to the embedded and cheap server market.
Why, you ask? Because you just said you don't want linux to be part of the solution. You want it to forever remain a niche market product
Unless, of course, someone doesn't like GNOME. Say he prefers KDE? Or even WindowMaker?
Personally, I don't like GNOME or KDE. I think they are both trying to be Windows on Linux.
Right up to the point that the rpm files goes to install and barfs over a missing or old dependency.
Or that tarball is source and won't compile because you don't have the latest version of libobscure.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Most of the world has poor grasp of technology. Even in the most developed countries, the average citizen has, at best, a marginal grasp of technology. Politicians are too busy being politicians to actual develop a good understanding of technology.
This should not surprise anyone.
If you don't go the DRM route, you might as well just set up a website with a standard store and sell the files and a donation button so people can "tip" you. This is not difficult and could be done in a few days. Of course you are going to have to hope that
Your band can literally be the test case for musicians using micropayments as a means of making a living as so many people claim is possible.
One other thing, you can try this with one or two songs to start. That way you don't give away your entire catalog.
Standing up for freedom of speech. Who do they think they are? Don't they know that it is evil to give people a forum for unpopular opinions? Next thing you know, they will be refusing to hand over people's identifying data!
See the problem most people have with freedom of speech is not that it applies to them, but rather that it applies to people with ideas they dispise.
You can not limit speech to just speech you like and/or agree with and still say you have freedom of speech.
A sales rep for a software company says rolling your own software is a bad idea. Big surprise.
We do have respect for people who do that. We just want them to respect our laws and do it legally.
But I guess that is too complicated for you.
So, in the bible, it says don't eat swine, aka pig. No bacon, no ham, no porkchops. Yet, Christians eat pork.
This is not about bug fixes. This is about actual support. If you want to talk bug fixes, let's talk about the cost of hiring someone or a group of people to fix the program. A business is not going to want to hire someone to do it, so it will probably be contracted out. I figure they will be charged no less than $100 per man hour unless they off-shore it. And, in the end, they don't have any guarrenty that the fix will not introduce new bugs.
As for the perils of proprietary software you list, how many FLOSS projects stall and die because the developer looses interest. How many languish for years because the developers got it good enough for them or lost interest or decided to work on something else? I see it all the time.
Well, that is half the work. For this instance, he should do a cost benefit analysis.
Just providing costs comparisons boils down to "Your way costs X, my way cost Y." But, that may not matter to someone who wants to be buzz-word compliant. When an executive gets it in his head that "this" is better than "that", the best way to handle it is to show that "this" will give a give a crappy ROI while "that" will give a great ROI.
Unfortunately, sometimes even that does not work and you end up doing it the boss' way, becaue he is the boss.
This is a trick question isn't it. The answer is neither!
It is not a frozen cube of wiskey. It is supposed to be some ultra high tech storage system where you can turn liquids into a solid and store them at room temperature by stacking them up. That is why it looks like a cube of plastic.
If enough people go on the air with their stations, then the interference will render all the stations useless. There is a limited number of frequencies and if stations are too close together, you get interference. Interference degrages the usefullness of radio by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. You kill that which you would use.
Plain and simple, too many cooks spoil the pie.
He is going to make up for it with all that money he is going to have coming in as a patent lawyer.
Don't you mean mangina, he-bitch man-whore?
Looks like someone forgot pretty much every single cartoon ever made. Filled with violence and geared towards kids.
Hmm the last time I visted my nephew who makes model planes and cars.
Or more recently, when I was at my local hobby shop.
Whimp! I edit the individual bits on the disk platters using a magnet!
I have cookies disabled, and I do not have flash installed and I read the entire article with no problem.
I believe you are having PEBKAC issue due to an ID10T error.
That is irrelevent.
Who brought MSDOS to market? Microsoft.
What O/S shipped with PC for until about 1995? MSDOS.
MSDOS was in the field before GNU/Linux. There are you happy now?
Stop being a dumbass and start actually reading what is being said. "First mover" is not about innovation and new products. "First mover" is about who made the first move. Just like whoever is white in chess moves first. In most contests, the one how moves first has an advantage to win. This is called "first mover" advantage. Nothing you say will change the fact that Microsoft has that advantage.
Microsoft has "first mover" advantage. Part of first mover advantage is installed user base. Part is familiarity. Part is known quantity and reputation. Part is OEM contracts.