Uh...I really doubt that MS is "in serious trouble" nor do they "see the writing on the wall" This makes perfect sense for them, they want to have a hand in ANYTHING that relates to the internet. They already missed the boat big-time with the browser stuff, and it's taken them years to catch up. They don't want to be caught with their pants down again.
Like it or not, MS has a *huge* installed base and more resources than I would like to think about. That equates to POWER, and lots of it. They have lost some momentum over the past year, but they are going to be around for a long time and I doubt they are "afraid" of anything right now. Well..except maybe the DOJ.
Okay...some IBM really seems to have jumped on the clue bus. I hope they get the $$$$ right. That's the only way I see most ISPs making that move. The competition has driven the price down so much (You can get unlimited monthly access for $9.99 per month here in Cleveland) that I'm guessing most of these guys can't afford to spend big bucks on servers anymore.
OTOH I can't imagine too many IPSs going with NT on Intel if they can get an RS6000 for similar bucks. GO BIG BLUE !!!!
sub sarcasm { "Yeah...uh...so how's that IPV6 support coming along ? Oh..I know...they are going to come out with their own, slightly different protocol... call it NTip... and talk about how innovative they are...while only allowing other MS boxes to connect to each other..thus promoting the growth of technology...and of course NTip won't work for crap for the first two years it's out...and just when it becomes to mature and be functional they will change it and go through the whole process all over...sheesh...yeah NT is soooo advanced..that's why it doesn't scale for crap...yeah...can you say Sun Solaris...bah"; }
I would agree wit you completely. I am stuck at work with only 40 meg of RAM running NT4 and it its pretty stable, but I still have to reboot because soemtimes it just slows to a snails pace. It won't lock up but it becomes unusable and can't seem to recover. I can't imaginge anyone trying to run on less that 40 meg of ram.
At least I've been spared the BSOD, several of my coworkers (who perform backups like madmen) have met the BSOD with all data lost...poof...bye bye...
I don't really have to much bad to say about NT, given my choice I prefer Linux and Solaris.(Which I run at home and LOVE)
Uh...I think bloat is driven by Marketing departments. Marketing can also take it's fair share of the blame for the poor quality of some of todays software. Today you have to pre-announce a product (MS is already talking about the Neptune system that is slated for release in 2001:) and load it up with more *features* than the other guys stuff if you want to survive. Sad but true.
Bloat goes away when big software companies figure out that they can make more money by selling a base package for $x and then offering a buffet of other options for $y. Sorta like buying a car. I would love to have a lean mean version of MS Word (I need a little more than wordpad). But noooooooo...I've got to sit and wait everyday while NT plods through loading up an amazingly fat application of which I use about %10 of it's *features* Quite frankly Xemacs isn't much better.
Bloat is driven by Wall Street..not by bad coders.
What you are saying is true to a point, but you might look at where these opinions are derived from.
I think it comes down to the MS marketing machine assulting us from all points. I take it as an insult to my intelligence that I can't make an informed choice about what is best for me. But the truth of the matter is that MS is simply a businnes that wants to maximize their profits. Killing you competition is one sure way to do that. Technology is secondary to MS, stock price is number one.
When MS has no competition then WE loose. I'm passionate about Linux because I believe in FREEDOM OF CHOICE. MS wants to take that away from me.
When I bash MS it has little to do with technical reasons(although there are some), and a lot to do personal reasons. I love computers and I don't want one company, who doesn't have my best intersts at heart, in control.
I think Linux might be better off if we were a bit more mature sometimes, but then again sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.
I believe that Netscape ported their borwser to *nix, they did not rewrite the browser from scratch.(Thus they did not take full advantage of their access to the code) I run Netscape on NT at work and on Linux and Solaris at home. I can tell you that it is far superior on NT. It is equal on Linux and Solaris.(Both lacking IMHO). Anytime you port a non-trivial product from Windows to Unix you are going to make sacrifices.
I have never tried IE on Solaris but have read discussions about it in the Solaris mailing list I belong to. The general opinion seems to be that IE on Solaris is slow and not much better that Netscape. One of these days I'm gonna download it and give it a try.
Sheesh... if ie5 wasn't a superior browser at this point I would really doubt the ability of the MS coders ( which I don't ). MS has a distinct advantage over the folks at Netscape. THEY HAVE THE CODE TO THE OS THEY ARE DEVELOPING ON! They know all there is to know about Wxx and Win NT. If you don't think that's an advantage then you have never done any real-world coding.
Let me give you an example: One of the windows developers for the company I work for spent a couple days trying to find out why his code was doing something bizzare.(He has access to all the recent NT resource stuff, all current documentation) He finally kludged it and got it to work. He posted a lengthy message to several newsgroups asking if anyone had the same experience or could offer any advice. A few days after posting he got a reply from a microsoft employeee ( A fairly high level, long time engineer) who told him that what he found was indeed a bug in the software. However the bug had remained since Win 2.0 for *backwards compatibilty* In other words if they fixed the bug it would break a lot of pre-existing software.
While it was nice of this person to be honost and up front about it, it didn't replace the wasted time of one of our best coders.
If you don't think MS engineers have an advantage over non MS engineers you are not grounded in reality.
>>>MS main revenue line is not going to be web servers, it is Operating Systems, hence this the value add is the reason they offer it for free
MS missed the whole web browser boat and has spent quite a bit of time/money/resources playing catch-up. They understand the power of the Internet and I would guess they want to control as much of it as they can.
True they aren't looking for immediate revenue from the web-server market today... It's control that they are concerned about, control of market share will lead to revenue in the future.
I wonder what it is about these old legends that makes them not like Linux. I've got to think it's all the media hype. Or heck...maybe he just wants some attention.
There is a book called "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" that deals with the origins of Arpanet, it's actually kinda dry, but the history is neat. It talks about Metcalfe and the ethernet stuff. Worth a read.
Hmmm...I've been using NT 4.0 at work for over a year and I've never had it "lock up" but I've had to reboot it many times because sometimes when things go wrong it just comes to a screeching halt. Sure it's not locked-up and I can save my data, but it moves along at a snails pace like it's choking in a major way and cannot recover.
Our NT guru tried to help me once and ended up walking away shaking his head after 20 minutes of poking at it to no avail.
Also we've had several BSOD's at my company in the past week, all on NT 4.0. BSOD = game..set match..you lose.
Yeah...NT is better than any of the 9X platforms, but it's a far cry from Un*x or Linux.
Re:Is there any reason to stay with the 2.0.x seri
on
Linux 2.0.37 Released
·
· Score: 1
I seem to remember reading that 2.2.X has better handling of TCP/IP, and better memory managment. But don't quote me on that.
On a side note, I have been having all sorts of trouble getting mpg123 to run properly after I upgraded to RH 6.0. It always worked great under 5.2. Now it will only play for a few minutes before cutting out. I don't know if this is a KDE thing or a 2.2.X thing...or what. I compiled both under 6.0, downloaded the latest versions, etc... no luck. Anybody have and suggestions or similar experience?
I tried to read Burn Rate but only got about 2/3 of the way through it. The first part was interesting but I thought things got real dry in the middle. When I find myself continuosly nodding off while reading I have a hard time finishing the book.
Has Slashdot ever had a "Whats your favorite book" forum? It might be interesting to see what the favorites are.
I have had more problems with 6.0 than I did with 5.2. I have purchsed both 5.2 and 6.0 because I wanted to feel like I was giving somethign back, and I don't regret it, however I will not just rush out and purchase the next version.
I think the main problem is that when you are presenting yourself as a *real business* you raise the level of expectations. I have had a lot of fun playing with "not ready for prime time Linux software*, but when I drop $ 60 for the latest release I expect a little more, and I get frustrated quicker.
RedHat will have to do MUCH more QA work before releases if they want to get the real $$$$$.
RedHat is the first to "leave the nest" and many people will be watching. Thsi should be interesting.
It's a great time to be alive :)
on
DNA Encryption
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· Score: 1
This seems like something out of a Neal Stephenson book, pretty neat. I have to wonder about the stuff they can do that they *are not telling us about* You can bet that there are some geek scientists in an undergroud bunker doing working on something that would make your head spin.
Well...as a stockholder of Inprise(Borland) I hate to say it...but I AM F**KING THRILLED... Inprise was going down in a major way. They still make good tools, but they are a mere shell of what they used to be.
The stock is up 26% already today...wow...I can't believe that I'm alinged with the enemy...I knew sombody would step in but I always kinda thought it would be IBM...or maybe Oracle...not the evil empire MS...The timing was right...sounds like a good deal for both sides.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower...I feel sorta dirty all of a sudden...:)
The DOJ trial is heating up again so this makes perfect sense. Steve Balmer makes some comments about Apache... MS leaks to the press last week that they have put together a *team* to study Linux and how MS can combat this threat...
MS is a very very sharp marketing machine and they play the press like a great conductor...I would expect a lot of MS comments etc... about Linux in the near future.
I would suggest a little research on the history of Kevin Mitnick before stating he has been wronged by the justice system. It generates attention when you throw his name out in the press, so I understand why people do it, but he was hardly as innocent as some would want to believe. Mitnick pleaded guilty to cell-phone fraud which accounted to about 2-3 years of the sentence he has served. He is alos looking at serving time for some type of fraud with the DMV. Some of the stuff he is in trouble for doesn't deal directly with computer cracking.
Mitnick has been arrested numerous times for "cracking" related stuff,(going back over 10 years) which means that maybe he needs to get more than a slap on the wrist. He doesn't appear to have the ability to learn from his past mistakes. Regardless of the *damage* he has caused, or the lack therof, he appears to have some problems that he refuses to deal with.
I read a book called "The Making of Microsoft" , I don't recall who wrote it. It was pro MS of course, but the story about the early days was pretty interesting.
Bill was actually a "hacker" when he was a kid. In fact he got tossed off of some mainframe that he had access to (I think having wealthy parents gave him certain advantages) because he brought the whole system down by hacking something he wasn't supposed to. According to the book he was kind of a rebel, not too differnet from your average computer geek.
It would seem that timing had a lot to do with the success of MS, they were in the right place at the right time. Then they hired some killer marketing people and the rest is history.
It's easy and fun to believe that Bill is the evil anti-christ but it's really not true. It's a shame that he ended up in the software industry and not tupperware industry:)
Sometimes I just get fed up with the entire industry. It seems to me that none of these companies really care about the technology.. or the user.. or developers... it's all about marketshare and killing your competition. It's just plain silly... we waste all this time and money for what... how many versions of Java do we need ? Is the MS version going to differ from the Sun version ? yeah...I wonder. WE lose...
When I look at this stuff my head just spins... COM DCOM DCOM+ CORBA KORBA/OP Gtk, QT ad infintum... sure...what this industry needs is MORE CONFUSION AND MORE *STANDARDS*
Hmmm... First I want to say that I think this is just a pure business move for IBM. Linux has been good for Unix and it would seem that most of the big players (Sun, IBM...) are positioning themselves for whatever the future might bring. I've got to believe that a lot of high executives are sitting in high powered board rooms trying to figure out just what to do with this whole "Linux thing" Also I think the article talked about IBM being afraid that someone will develop a killer app for linux and they don't want to miss out on it. Makes good sense to me.
Now... I've got Solaris 7 on my machine along with Linux and yeah...Sun's X server seems a little quicker than XFree...but not 2-4 times quicker. Also XFree works with MANY more video cards. Solaris X86 has some serious problems with lack of drivers for new or generic hardware. Linux has a major advantage there. I have to run Solaris in 16 colors with my piece-o-crap video card. Linux handles it fine with 24 bit color 1024X760 display.
Also Solaris is tied to CDE unless you want to do a LOT of work getting KDE or Gnome to run. Linux again has a major advantage in the desktop area. I like Solaris, it does seem more stable (not that Linux is not stable) but Linux is tooooo much fun.
Yep... I found the comment by the AOL guy a little too over the top. Something along the lines that it would be *impossible* to access the passwords and user info...etc... Unless this box is locked in a closet with no modem and no network card then nothing is impossible. Even then if the right person was a skillfull enough social engineer he/she could get at it.
I feel sorry for some AOL users. They really get a bad rap sometimes. I know people who use it because they live in the sticks and it's the only way to get a local dialup number. Other people may be very intelligent but really have no interest in learning anything beyond how to point and click. I see no shame in that. It seems that techy type poeple seem to be very judgmental sometimes. (my self included)
If/when MS decides to do *something* like opening up source code I would guess they will provide something like an enhanced SDK.
Steve Ballmer made references to helping end-users to understand database integration better so this would make sense. Maybe mix in some chunks of code with some api calls and blitz the press with statements about how forward thinking MS is.
I would love to be a bug in the Redmond campus when they are trying to figure out what to do with this open source *thing.* I think they will almost have to appear to embrace it somehow, or else they come off looking bad. Looking bad is bad for business and for MS image is everything.
Ah well...back to work...
Seems like a good idea to me...
on
GNU Inside?
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· Score: 3
I'm not holding my breath here, but I think this is a pretty good compromise. In fact the GNU inside sticker could be sorta cool.
The thing that stick in my gut is that this is all such a waste of time. I'll be PC here and state that I am gratefull for all of the work that RMS has done, as well as the FSF. I'm a big emacs fan (well actually xemacs lateley) and I appreciate the work RMS has contibuted towards that software.
However....it seems so hypocritical on the part of RMS to make this an issue. If his goal is to promote free (like free speech not free beer) software then he should be thrilled by the fact that Linux gives him the opportunity to do so. Idealistically the name (should) means nothing. So what is the true goal here...promote free software or promote the awareness of RMS and the FSF.
Maybe RMS is not as idealistic as he wants to think he is.
So yeah...lets compromise and get on with it already.
Wow, that's the best laugh I've had in a while. I'm not sure if that 's brilliant or silly, but I do find it amusing.
I can imagine George and his advisors sitting around some large expensive table discussing if they want to buy www.bushblows.com. I'll bet they were laughing as hard as I was.
It says something about the power; or maybe the perceived power of the internet. It's really amazing how far it has come in the span of a few years. I was thinking back to 94 when I got my first account on Prodigy. You had to pay extra to go on the "Web" at that time and the speed coming through prodigy was horrible, but I'll bet I didn't sleep for a week.
Now the internet seems so commonplace, having an email adr. is the norm not the execption, and major political powers are giving some serious thought on how to harness the power.
Slashdot Mirror
Uh...I really doubt that MS is "in serious trouble" nor do they "see the writing on the wall" This makes perfect sense for them, they want to have a hand in ANYTHING that relates to the internet. They already missed the boat big-time with the browser stuff, and it's taken them years to catch up. They don't want to be caught with their pants down again.
Like it or not, MS has a *huge* installed base and more resources than I would like to think about. That equates to POWER, and lots of it. They have lost some momentum over the past year, but they are going to be around for a long time and I doubt they are "afraid" of anything right now. Well..except maybe the DOJ.
Okay...some IBM really seems to have jumped on the clue bus. I hope they get the $$$$ right. That's the only way I see most ISPs making that move. The competition has driven the price down so much (You can get unlimited monthly access for $9.99 per month here in Cleveland) that I'm guessing most of these guys can't afford to spend big bucks on servers anymore.
OTOH I can't imagine too many IPSs going with NT on Intel if they can get an RS6000 for similar bucks. GO BIG BLUE !!!!
sub sarcasm { ...and of course NTip won't work for crap for the first two years it's out...and just when it becomes to mature and be functional they will change it and go through the whole process all over...sheesh...yeah NT is soooo advanced..that's why it doesn't scale for crap...yeah...can you say Sun Solaris...bah";
"Yeah...uh...so how's that IPV6 support coming along ? Oh..I know...they are going to come out with their own, slightly different protocol... call it NTip... and talk about how innovative they are...while only allowing other MS boxes to connect to each other..thus promoting the growth of technology
}
print sarcasm;
I would agree wit you completely. I am stuck at work with only 40 meg of RAM running NT4 and it its pretty stable, but I still have to reboot because soemtimes it just slows to a snails pace. It won't lock up but it becomes unusable and can't seem to recover. I can't imaginge anyone trying to run on less that 40 meg of ram.
At least I've been spared the BSOD, several of my coworkers (who perform backups like madmen) have met the BSOD with all data lost...poof...bye bye...
I don't really have to much bad to say about NT, given my choice I prefer Linux and Solaris.(Which I run at home and LOVE)
Uh...I think bloat is driven by Marketing departments. Marketing can also take it's fair share of the blame for the poor quality of some of todays software. Today you have to pre-announce a product (MS is already talking about the Neptune system that is slated for release in 2001 :) and load it up with more *features* than the other guys stuff if you want to survive. Sad but true.
Bloat goes away when big software companies figure out that they can make more money by selling a base package for $x and then offering a buffet of other options for $y. Sorta like buying a car. I would love to have a lean mean version of MS Word (I need a little more than wordpad). But noooooooo...I've got to sit and wait everyday while NT plods through loading up an amazingly fat application of which I use about %10 of it's *features* Quite frankly Xemacs isn't much better.
Bloat is driven by Wall Street..not by bad coders.
What you are saying is true to a point, but you might look at where these opinions are derived from.
I think it comes down to the MS marketing machine assulting us from all points. I take it as an insult to my intelligence that I can't make an informed choice about what is best for me. But the truth of the matter is that MS is simply a businnes that wants to maximize their profits. Killing you competition is one sure way to do that. Technology is secondary to MS, stock price is number one.
When MS has no competition then WE loose. I'm passionate about Linux because I believe in FREEDOM OF CHOICE. MS wants to take that away from me.
When I bash MS it has little to do with technical reasons(although there are some), and a lot to do personal reasons. I love computers and I don't want one company, who doesn't have my best intersts at heart, in control.
I think Linux might be better off if we were a bit more mature sometimes, but then again sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.
I believe that Netscape ported their borwser to *nix, they did not rewrite the browser from scratch.(Thus they did not take full advantage of their access to the code) I run Netscape on NT at work and on Linux and Solaris at home. I can tell you that it is far superior on NT. It is equal on Linux and Solaris.(Both lacking IMHO). Anytime you port a non-trivial product from Windows to Unix you are going to make sacrifices.
I have never tried IE on Solaris but have read discussions about it in the Solaris mailing list I belong to. The general opinion seems to be that IE on Solaris is slow and not much better that Netscape. One of these days I'm gonna download it and give it a try.
Sheesh... if ie5 wasn't a superior browser at this point I would really doubt the ability of the MS coders ( which I don't ). MS has a distinct advantage over the folks at Netscape. THEY HAVE THE CODE TO THE OS THEY ARE DEVELOPING ON! They know all there is to know about Wxx and Win NT. If you don't think that's an advantage then you have never done any real-world coding.
Let me give you an example: One of the windows developers for the company I work for spent a couple days trying to find out why his code was doing something bizzare.(He has access to all the recent NT resource stuff, all current documentation) He finally kludged it and got it to work. He posted a lengthy message to several newsgroups asking if anyone had the same experience or could offer any advice. A few days after posting he got a reply from a microsoft employeee ( A fairly high level, long time engineer) who told him that what he found was indeed a bug in the software. However the bug had remained since Win 2.0 for *backwards compatibilty* In other words if they fixed the bug it would break a lot of pre-existing software.
While it was nice of this person to be honost and up front about it, it didn't replace the wasted time of one of our best coders.
If you don't think MS engineers have an advantage over non MS engineers you are not grounded in reality.
>>>MS main revenue line is not going to be web servers, it is Operating Systems, hence this the value add is the reason they offer it for free
MS missed the whole web browser boat and has spent quite a bit of time/money/resources playing catch-up. They understand the power of the Internet and I would guess they want to control as much of it as they can.
True they aren't looking for immediate revenue from the web-server market today... It's control that they are concerned about, control of market share will lead to revenue in the future.
I wonder what it is about these old legends that makes them not like Linux. I've got to think it's all the media hype. Or heck...maybe he just wants some attention.
There is a book called "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" that deals with the origins of Arpanet, it's actually kinda dry, but the history is neat. It talks about Metcalfe and the ethernet stuff. Worth a read.
Hmmm...I've been using NT 4.0 at work for over a year and I've never had it "lock up" but I've had to reboot it many times because sometimes when things go wrong it just comes to a screeching halt. Sure it's not locked-up and I can save my data, but it moves along at a snails pace like it's choking in a major way and cannot recover.
Our NT guru tried to help me once and ended up walking away shaking his head after 20 minutes of poking at it to no avail.
Also we've had several BSOD's at my company in the past week, all on NT 4.0. BSOD = game..set match..you lose.
Yeah...NT is better than any of the 9X platforms, but it's a far cry from Un*x or Linux.
I seem to remember reading that 2.2.X has better handling of TCP/IP, and better memory managment. But don't quote me on that.
On a side note, I have been having all sorts of trouble getting mpg123 to run properly after I upgraded to RH 6.0. It always worked great under 5.2. Now it will only play for a few minutes before cutting out. I don't know if this is a KDE thing or a 2.2.X thing...or what. I compiled both under 6.0, downloaded the latest versions, etc... no luck. Anybody have and suggestions or similar experience?
I tried to read Burn Rate but only got about 2/3 of the way through it. The first part was interesting but I thought things got real dry in the middle. When I find myself continuosly nodding off while reading I have a hard time finishing the book.
Has Slashdot ever had a "Whats your favorite book" forum? It might be interesting to see what the favorites are.
I have had more problems with 6.0 than I did with 5.2. I have purchsed both 5.2 and 6.0 because I wanted to feel like I was giving somethign back, and I don't regret it, however I will not just rush out and purchase the next version.
I think the main problem is that when you are presenting yourself as a *real business* you raise the level of expectations. I have had a lot of fun playing with "not ready for prime time Linux software*, but when I drop $ 60 for the latest release I expect a little more, and I get frustrated quicker.
RedHat will have to do MUCH more QA work before releases if they want to get the real $$$$$.
RedHat is the first to "leave the nest" and many people will be watching. Thsi should be interesting.
This seems like something out of a Neal Stephenson book, pretty neat. I have to wonder about the stuff they can do that they *are not telling us about* You can bet that there are some geek scientists in an undergroud bunker doing working on something that would make your head spin.
Well...as a stockholder of Inprise(Borland) I hate to say it...but I AM F**KING THRILLED... Inprise was going down in a major way. They still make good tools, but they are a mere shell of what they used to be.
The stock is up 26% already today...wow...I can't believe that I'm alinged with the enemy...I knew sombody would step in but I always kinda thought it would be IBM...or maybe Oracle...not the evil empire MS...The timing was right...sounds like a good deal for both sides.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower...I feel sorta dirty all of a sudden...:)
The DOJ trial is heating up again so this makes perfect sense. Steve Balmer makes some comments about Apache... MS leaks to the press last week that they have put together a *team* to study Linux and how MS can combat this threat...
MS is a very very sharp marketing machine and they play the press like a great conductor...I would expect a lot of MS comments etc... about Linux in the near future.
I would suggest a little research on the history of Kevin Mitnick before stating he has been wronged by the justice system. It generates attention when you throw his name out in the press, so I understand why people do it, but he was hardly as innocent as some would want to believe. Mitnick pleaded guilty to cell-phone fraud which accounted to about 2-3 years of the sentence he has served. He is alos looking at serving time for some type of fraud with the DMV. Some of the stuff he is in trouble for doesn't deal directly with computer cracking.
Mitnick has been arrested numerous times for "cracking" related stuff,(going back over 10 years) which means that maybe he needs to get more than a slap on the wrist. He doesn't appear to have the ability to learn from his past mistakes. Regardless of the *damage* he has caused, or the lack therof, he appears to have some problems that he refuses to deal with.
I read a book called "The Making of Microsoft" , I don't recall who wrote it. It was pro MS of course, but the story about the early days was pretty interesting.
:)
Bill was actually a "hacker" when he was a kid. In fact he got tossed off of some mainframe that he had access to (I think having wealthy parents gave him certain advantages) because he brought the whole system down by hacking something he wasn't supposed to. According to the book he was kind of a rebel, not too differnet from your average computer geek.
It would seem that timing had a lot to do with the success of MS, they were in the right place at the right time. Then they hired some killer marketing people and the rest is history.
It's easy and fun to believe that Bill is the evil anti-christ but it's really not true. It's a shame that he ended up in the software industry and not tupperware industry
Sometimes I just get fed up with the entire industry. It seems to me that none of these companies really care about the technology.. or the user.. or developers... it's all about marketshare and killing your competition. It's just plain silly... we waste all this time and money for what... how many versions of Java do we need ? Is the MS version going to differ from the Sun version ? yeah...I wonder. WE lose...
When I look at this stuff my head just spins... COM DCOM DCOM+ CORBA KORBA/OP Gtk, QT ad infintum... sure...what this industry needs is MORE CONFUSION AND MORE *STANDARDS*
Enough already... sheesh
Hmmm... First I want to say that I think this is just a pure business move for IBM. Linux has been good for Unix and it would seem that most of the big players (Sun, IBM...) are positioning themselves for whatever the future might bring. I've got to believe that a lot of high executives are sitting in high powered board rooms trying to figure out just what to do with this whole "Linux thing" Also I think the article talked about IBM being afraid that someone will develop a killer app for linux and they don't want to miss out on it. Makes good sense to me.
Now... I've got Solaris 7 on my machine along with Linux and yeah...Sun's X server seems a little quicker than XFree...but not 2-4 times quicker. Also XFree works with MANY more video cards. Solaris X86 has some serious problems with lack of drivers for new or generic hardware. Linux has a major advantage there. I have to run Solaris in 16 colors with my piece-o-crap video card. Linux handles it fine with 24 bit color 1024X760 display.
Also Solaris is tied to CDE unless you want to do a LOT of work getting KDE or Gnome to run. Linux again has a major advantage in the desktop area. I like Solaris, it does seem more stable (not that Linux is not stable) but Linux is tooooo much fun.
Yep... I found the comment by the AOL guy a little too over the top. Something along the lines that it would be *impossible* to access the passwords and user info...etc... Unless this box is locked in a closet with no modem and no network card then nothing is impossible. Even then if the right person was a skillfull enough social engineer he/she could get at it.
I feel sorry for some AOL users. They really get a bad rap sometimes. I know people who use it because they live in the sticks and it's the only way to get a local dialup number. Other people may be very intelligent but really have no interest in learning anything beyond how to point and click. I see no shame in that. It seems that techy type poeple seem to be very judgmental sometimes. (my self included)
If/when MS decides to do *something* like opening up source code I would guess they will provide something like an enhanced SDK.
Steve Ballmer made references to helping end-users to understand database integration better so this would make sense. Maybe mix in some chunks of code with some api calls and blitz the press with statements about how forward thinking MS is.
I would love to be a bug in the Redmond campus when they are trying to figure out what to do with this open source *thing.* I think they will almost have to appear to embrace it somehow, or else they come off looking bad. Looking bad is bad for business and for MS image is everything.
Ah well...back to work...
I'm not holding my breath here, but I think this is a pretty good compromise. In fact the GNU inside sticker could be sorta cool.
The thing that stick in my gut is that this is all such a waste of time. I'll be PC here and state that I am gratefull for all of the work that RMS has done, as well as the FSF. I'm a big emacs fan (well actually xemacs lateley) and I appreciate the work RMS has contibuted towards that software.
However....it seems so hypocritical on the part of RMS to make this an issue. If his goal is to promote free (like free speech not free beer) software then he should be thrilled by the fact that Linux gives him the opportunity to do so. Idealistically the name (should) means nothing. So what is the true goal here...promote free software or promote the awareness of RMS and the FSF.
Maybe RMS is not as idealistic as he wants to think he is.
So yeah...lets compromise and get on with it already.
Wow, that's the best laugh I've had in a while. I'm not sure if that 's brilliant or silly, but I do find it amusing.
I can imagine George and his advisors sitting around some large expensive table discussing if they want to buy www.bushblows.com. I'll bet they were laughing as hard as I was.
It says something about the power; or maybe the perceived power of the internet. It's really amazing how far it has come in the span of a few years. I was thinking back to 94 when I got my first account on Prodigy. You had to pay extra to go on the "Web" at that time and the speed coming through prodigy was horrible, but I'll bet I didn't sleep for a week.
Now the internet seems so commonplace, having an email adr. is the norm not the execption, and major political powers are giving some serious thought on how to harness the power.
This should be interesting.