For Open Source to have a chance in the court of public opinion neither ESR or RMS can be the primary spokesman in this. They both have points that would be way to easy for MS to exploit to make Open Source look bad. Linus on the other hand can do this quite well and make MS look very bad in the process. He can come across as an average guy just trying to make computers easier to use and cheaper. He has never tried to capitalize on Linux and has made good. He has a beautiful wife and daughters. He stands up and says what he thinks without being obnoxious about it and the public will love that perception of him. Bill Gates will come off as the head of the evil empire that keeps sending his goons out to deal with this upstart. Each time they get roundly trashed and more public awareness grows. Eventually people will be paying attention to the news just to see the latest in the war of words between the two sides. If that happens MS will have already lost. It will be just a matter of time.
I doubt it. The longer it goes on the more it gets into public conciousness. This war will be won by public perception of the individuals involved. When this battle is in the news Linus will become the hero in public perception. When the public starts asking about this Linux they keep hearing about companies will have to listen. Everyone here seems to be basing their decision on what the IT industry will think. The IT industry really doesn't matter in this case. Software companies will produce software that their customers will buy. If the customers are screaming for Linux products you will have to give them what they want. Most software sales are not to businesses in the IT sector but retail, manufacturing, service, and assorted other sectors. The IT departments in most companies will fold soon enough when they get enough questions by senior management about implementing Linux and saving those nasty license fees. It's all in public perception and Microsoft can't win there as long as Linus is the primary spokesman and speaks for himself.
Microsoft will have lost the war when the public views this as a battle between Bill Gates and all of his lackeys and Linus Torvalds. Given the public love of the underdog and the fact that he didn't try to milk every last dime he could out of Linux, Linus will be the hero standing tall and proud before the evil empire that should be able to crush him without a second thought. He can't lose. However, ESR and RMS cannot carry this battle in the public eye. Neither comes off as being very stable and the public doesn't care about ideology. MS could cast them as nutcases and probably succeed. Plus wasn't someone mentioning dirty hippies earlier. This battle will be won by public perception of the leaders and Linus has the best shot.
But it is the phrase that will get the most people to actually look at Linux and Open Source. People like to see the underdog fighting back with everything he has. The more public the bashes between MS' champions and Open Source champions the more you will get John Q. Public interested. Most real computer nerds already have an opinion that isn't likely to change. The battle now is for public perception and that one will go to the party that can make its case that it is the oppressed by the other. In public perception this battle is not interesting until it gets to an individual level. However much it may hurt them ESR and RSM must know that the champion for public opinion will have to be Linus. He is the squeaky clean foreigner (with a beautiful wife and kids) making good and trying to benefit society. The public will love him as the underdog in this battle. The worst thing for MS will be for this stuff to start getting coverage in the newspapers and on tv. That is when they will lose the hearts and minds of the public. Linus can make little jibes like this it just makes him look human. If MS responds in kind they look like a bully. They can't win unless they can minimize the amount of exposure this battle gets in the mainstream press.
Linus did it right. The average guy on the street loves to see the underdog fight back. They love seeing the underdog win even more (then he becomes the bad guy and we see the cycle start again). Microsoft will lose in the end just because of this fact. What happens to Linux when this happens is going to be interesting. Remember when IBM was hated so much because they ruled the computer world. Now they get a much more sympathetic audience because they are perceived ad one of the underdogs. Everything goes in cycles and Microsoft will see its day at the bottom.
The thing is that at every stage of the PC revolution there have been arguably better and easier to use alternatives to MS software and OS's. CPM, DR-Dos, PC-Dos, GEOS, GEM, and OS2 are just some of the examples. MS was late to the game with internet support and didn't do it very well for quite a while. Their closed source outlook is one of the things that held them back. Microsoft wiped out all competitors through a combination of FUD, exageration, and blatantly breaking other companies products ability to work with their OS's. For most of their career but especially true for the begining, their ability to break other software has been their biggest asset. It created the cash cow of MS-Dos and gave them eventual total control of the desktop.
You are missing one very important point. The impulese are of such short duration that most conventional equipment can't process the pulse. It is noise that gets dropped because it can't be processed. When you are talking about signals that need a Thz. clock to sync. The pulse will be so short as to be impossible for most equipment to even notice. Add in the low power and you would have to put a serious number of transmitters to create any appreciable noise.
YOu forgot about the tariffs that the North caused to be put into effect during the War of 1812. They caused undo hardship to the people of the South. The causes of the war were much more than slavery no matter how much people try to simplify it. Do some research into the taxation and trade issues of the time. You might be surprised. History really is written by the victor.
I'm betting that they get paid by how many repos they do. From his point of view he is only doing a job. A job that wouldn't be necessary if people planned for downturns in their future. He said he felt sorry for the ones who probably couldn't have done any better. But why should he feel sorry for the stupid people who spent money they never had. The worth of your stocks and options is zero until you actually sell them and have the cash. Anyone who lives any other way isn't worth feeling sorry for.
Anybody who went through this craze and didn't think it would ever end is too stupid to feel any pity for. Every 50 to a 100 years some new craze comes along and everyone thinks it will last forever. There is nothing new where human behavior is concerned. Know your history and what people have done in the past because it all will happen again. Names and details change but human stupidity is constant.
Where do you get the idea that Bruce or anybody else is trying to threaten these companies into this? I get a totally different read on the subject. I see it as pointing out to them that if they want to continue to reap the rewards of Open Source then they need to help ensure that Open Source developers can continue to develop. These companies are not stupid. They can see the problem the same as anyone else. But, they would never get together on their own and propose a solution. It almost has to come from the Open Source side. They are basing long term business planning on Open Source and they need to keep it going. They also have an obligation to maximize return on investment for their shareholders. To do that they need to not only make sure that the software will still be here but that there is no uncertainty about it's future. To do that they will have to work out some plan to keep Open Source developers safe.
If you really believe that I have a question for you. Where is your money? How much are you willing to put into protecting Open Source? These companies stand to make lots of money from Open Source and it is in their best interests to defend it. Nobody said anything about contracts. A treaty would be closer to the idea and makes sense. It doesn't give them anymore rights to anything than they have now but does help them and us defend something of value. You need to realize that there is probably no Open Source software out there that is not in violation of someone's patent. Open source can and probably will be shut down without some friends with some serious clout. Take Microsofts recent tirades on Linux. Do you think that they might have a few patents on things like OS', word processors, databases. I don't know if they have cross licensing with IBM but if they don't I think IBM could make them reconsider any moves to shut down some of my favorite projects. Open Source was safe as long as it was small and below notice. Guess what? It is neither now. Microsoft and the others have noticed. We don't have to cave in and give the big boys anything they want, but we do need their help to make sure that it can continue.
Just how is this flamebait. Nakoruru has aplogized repeatedly for a mistake of the kind that most people make on a fairly common basis. There is absolutely no reason for the way people have carried on about this.
If Californians had had their heads stuck in the sand and refused to keep their infrastructure up to demand they wouldn't have caused this problem for themselves.
Princeton has one of this countries finest collection of legal minds in their law school department. Don't you think some of them might work on this case as a matter of principle. Princeton tends to attract a liberal group of people and I imagine that a few of them will find this a little too much to swallow.
Yoko Ono would be cruel and unusual punishment at a level never before seen. I am almost tempted to believet that even the MPAA and RIAA goons don't deserve that. Almost being the operative word.
Apparently most of you all don't know one of the most disgusting things about retail. Average markup is almost always over 50% of the cost. If that follows in software sales then Loki can sell software at a 50% reduction and still make the same money. By selling to the LUGs they are just increasing the market. I'll practically guarantee that most LUG members are avid enough gamers that they already have most of these games for Windows. But most of them have a few extra bucks to try their favorite games on Linux. It's a smart move by Loki. Not a move of desperation. Or it might be but you can't tell just from this announcement.
And I'm curious where you all get the idea that Red Hat is failing. They are right in line with their plans and meet their projections. By their projections they will soon turn a profit. No, they will never be Microsoft but who (of people with a clue) ever said they would be. I am not a big Red Hat fan but this is ridiculous. Red Hat would already be showing a profit but they still have cash. They could cut a lot of things but why should they. They are setting themselves up for the future so that they don't have to cut back much when the cash does run out.
It took too long for Novell to come out with a GUI and look what happened to them. Folks you really don't know how much I hate to say this but W2K is good enough that without good gui tools Linux market share is at its peak right now. Moan and groan about how command line is better but without a gui admin tool that works very well, it won't win the hearts and minds of PHBs.
It would make a lot more sense as a deterrent tha n nukes do. Use relatively small rocks about 500 - 1000 pounds. Somebody launches nukes drop rocks on them. Roughly same damage but no long term radiation from your side at least. It gives the human race a fighting chance to survive.
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For Open Source to have a chance in the court of public opinion neither ESR or RMS can be the primary spokesman in this. They both have points that would be way to easy for MS to exploit to make Open Source look bad. Linus on the other hand can do this quite well and make MS look very bad in the process. He can come across as an average guy just trying to make computers easier to use and cheaper. He has never tried to capitalize on Linux and has made good. He has a beautiful wife and daughters. He stands up and says what he thinks without being obnoxious about it and the public will love that perception of him. Bill Gates will come off as the head of the evil empire that keeps sending his goons out to deal with this upstart. Each time they get roundly trashed and more public awareness grows. Eventually people will be paying attention to the news just to see the latest in the war of words between the two sides. If that happens MS will have already lost. It will be just a matter of time.
I doubt it. The longer it goes on the more it gets into public conciousness. This war will be won by public perception of the individuals involved. When this battle is in the news Linus will become the hero in public perception. When the public starts asking about this Linux they keep hearing about companies will have to listen. Everyone here seems to be basing their decision on what the IT industry will think. The IT industry really doesn't matter in this case. Software companies will produce software that their customers will buy. If the customers are screaming for Linux products you will have to give them what they want. Most software sales are not to businesses in the IT sector but retail, manufacturing, service, and assorted other sectors. The IT departments in most companies will fold soon enough when they get enough questions by senior management about implementing Linux and saving those nasty license fees. It's all in public perception and Microsoft can't win there as long as Linus is the primary spokesman and speaks for himself.
Microsoft will have lost the war when the public views this as a battle between Bill Gates and all of his lackeys and Linus Torvalds. Given the public love of the underdog and the fact that he didn't try to milk every last dime he could out of Linux, Linus will be the hero standing tall and proud before the evil empire that should be able to crush him without a second thought. He can't lose. However, ESR and RMS cannot carry this battle in the public eye. Neither comes off as being very stable and the public doesn't care about ideology. MS could cast them as nutcases and probably succeed. Plus wasn't someone mentioning dirty hippies earlier. This battle will be won by public perception of the leaders and Linus has the best shot.
But it is the phrase that will get the most people to actually look at Linux and Open Source. People like to see the underdog fighting back with everything he has. The more public the bashes between MS' champions and Open Source champions the more you will get John Q. Public interested. Most real computer nerds already have an opinion that isn't likely to change. The battle now is for public perception and that one will go to the party that can make its case that it is the oppressed by the other. In public perception this battle is not interesting until it gets to an individual level. However much it may hurt them ESR and RSM must know that the champion for public opinion will have to be Linus. He is the squeaky clean foreigner (with a beautiful wife and kids) making good and trying to benefit society. The public will love him as the underdog in this battle. The worst thing for MS will be for this stuff to start getting coverage in the newspapers and on tv. That is when they will lose the hearts and minds of the public. Linus can make little jibes like this it just makes him look human. If MS responds in kind they look like a bully. They can't win unless they can minimize the amount of exposure this battle gets in the mainstream press.
Especially since MS is a past master at making incompatible versions of software so they could force people to upgrade.
Linus did it right. The average guy on the street loves to see the underdog fight back. They love seeing the underdog win even more (then he becomes the bad guy and we see the cycle start again). Microsoft will lose in the end just because of this fact. What happens to Linux when this happens is going to be interesting. Remember when IBM was hated so much because they ruled the computer world. Now they get a much more sympathetic audience because they are perceived ad one of the underdogs. Everything goes in cycles and Microsoft will see its day at the bottom.
The thing is that at every stage of the PC revolution there have been arguably better and easier to use alternatives to MS software and OS's. CPM, DR-Dos, PC-Dos, GEOS, GEM, and OS2 are just some of the examples. MS was late to the game with internet support and didn't do it very well for quite a while. Their closed source outlook is one of the things that held them back. Microsoft wiped out all competitors through a combination of FUD, exageration, and blatantly breaking other companies products ability to work with their OS's. For most of their career but especially true for the begining, their ability to break other software has been their biggest asset. It created the cash cow of MS-Dos and gave them eventual total control of the desktop.
You are missing one very important point. The impulese are of such short duration that most conventional equipment can't process the pulse. It is noise that gets dropped because it can't be processed. When you are talking about signals that need a Thz. clock to sync. The pulse will be so short as to be impossible for most equipment to even notice. Add in the low power and you would have to put a serious number of transmitters to create any appreciable noise.
YOu forgot about the tariffs that the North caused to be put into effect during the War of 1812. They caused undo hardship to the people of the South. The causes of the war were much more than slavery no matter how much people try to simplify it. Do some research into the taxation and trade issues of the time. You might be surprised. History really is written by the victor.
I'm betting that they get paid by how many repos they do. From his point of view he is only doing a job. A job that wouldn't be necessary if people planned for downturns in their future. He said he felt sorry for the ones who probably couldn't have done any better. But why should he feel sorry for the stupid people who spent money they never had. The worth of your stocks and options is zero until you actually sell them and have the cash. Anyone who lives any other way isn't worth feeling sorry for.
Anybody who went through this craze and didn't think it would ever end is too stupid to feel any pity for. Every 50 to a 100 years some new craze comes along and everyone thinks it will last forever. There is nothing new where human behavior is concerned. Know your history and what people have done in the past because it all will happen again. Names and details change but human stupidity is constant.
Where do you get the idea that Bruce or anybody else is trying to threaten these companies into this? I get a totally different read on the subject. I see it as pointing out to them that if they want to continue to reap the rewards of Open Source then they need to help ensure that Open Source developers can continue to develop. These companies are not stupid. They can see the problem the same as anyone else. But, they would never get together on their own and propose a solution. It almost has to come from the Open Source side. They are basing long term business planning on Open Source and they need to keep it going. They also have an obligation to maximize return on investment for their shareholders. To do that they need to not only make sure that the software will still be here but that there is no uncertainty about it's future. To do that they will have to work out some plan to keep Open Source developers safe.
If you really believe that I have a question for you. Where is your money? How much are you willing to put into protecting Open Source? These companies stand to make lots of money from Open Source and it is in their best interests to defend it. Nobody said anything about contracts. A treaty would be closer to the idea and makes sense. It doesn't give them anymore rights to anything than they have now but does help them and us defend something of value. You need to realize that there is probably no Open Source software out there that is not in violation of someone's patent. Open source can and probably will be shut down without some friends with some serious clout. Take Microsofts recent tirades on Linux. Do you think that they might have a few patents on things like OS', word processors, databases. I don't know if they have cross licensing with IBM but if they don't I think IBM could make them reconsider any moves to shut down some of my favorite projects. Open Source was safe as long as it was small and below notice. Guess what? It is neither now. Microsoft and the others have noticed. We don't have to cave in and give the big boys anything they want, but we do need their help to make sure that it can continue.
Just how is this flamebait. Nakoruru has aplogized repeatedly for a mistake of the kind that most people make on a fairly common basis. There is absolutely no reason for the way people have carried on about this.
hadn't had, sorry.
If Californians had had their heads stuck in the sand and refused to keep their infrastructure up to demand they wouldn't have caused this problem for themselves.
That could get you in some serious legal trouble. The USPS has regulations against sending biohazards through the mail.
Oops. I could have sworn I had heard people talk about a law school there. Shoulda checked it.
Princeton has one of this countries finest collection of legal minds in their law school department. Don't you think some of them might work on this case as a matter of principle. Princeton tends to attract a liberal group of people and I imagine that a few of them will find this a little too much to swallow.
Yoko Ono would be cruel and unusual punishment at a level never before seen. I am almost tempted to believet that even the MPAA and RIAA goons don't deserve that. Almost being the operative word.
Apparently most of you all don't know one of the most disgusting things about retail. Average markup is almost always over 50% of the cost. If that follows in software sales then Loki can sell software at a 50% reduction and still make the same money. By selling to the LUGs they are just increasing the market. I'll practically guarantee that most LUG members are avid enough gamers that they already have most of these games for Windows. But most of them have a few extra bucks to try their favorite games on Linux. It's a smart move by Loki. Not a move of desperation. Or it might be but you can't tell just from this announcement.
And I'm curious where you all get the idea that Red Hat is failing. They are right in line with their plans and meet their projections. By their projections they will soon turn a profit. No, they will never be Microsoft but who (of people with a clue) ever said they would be. I am not a big Red Hat fan but this is ridiculous. Red Hat would already be showing a profit but they still have cash. They could cut a lot of things but why should they. They are setting themselves up for the future so that they don't have to cut back much when the cash does run out.
You do realize you just called every programming language known to man (including machine language) a hack.
It took too long for Novell to come out with a GUI and look what happened to them. Folks you really don't know how much I hate to say this but W2K is good enough that without good gui tools Linux market share is at its peak right now. Moan and groan about how command line is better but without a gui admin tool that works very well, it won't win the hearts and minds of PHBs.
It would make a lot more sense as a deterrent tha n nukes do. Use relatively small rocks about 500 - 1000 pounds. Somebody launches nukes drop rocks on them. Roughly same damage but no long term radiation from your side at least. It gives the human race a fighting chance to survive.