You raise some good points, but I'm not really concerned with beating Microsoft. Sure, they've done some criminal things. Sure, their software isn't very good. But, what is free software and/or open source all about to you? Is it about beating Microsoft?
For me, free software is about creating high quality software and giving everybody fair rights to use it. Microsoft doesn't feel that way, and is actively trying to obstruct these goals, and so they are, in a sense, "enemies."
But free software to me is not about getting rid of Microsoft. My goal is to see free software usurp non-free software. This will level the playing field, and Microsoft will only be able to go from software producer to service provider if their services are truly better than everybody else's. If those services are provided over the Mono implementation of.NET, Microsoft won't be the enemy anymore.
> 6. You can expect no warranties or support for illegal software and won't have access to inexpensive upgrades.
What inexpensive upgrades? I know some companies can afford to pay $80-200 to upgrade from Microsoft Frobozz v2.5.1 to Microsoft Frobozz v2.5.2, but most people I know can't.
Well, no. Treason is actually very narrowly defined within the Constitution, because previous governments the founders were familiar with had taken advantage of broad and ambiguous definitions to punish whoever they didn't like.
Kind of like the broad and ambiguous DMCA, ironically.
Without the graciousness of SSHCSC there would be no free alternative
Yes, there would. Witness GPG and all the alternatives that sprang up to RSA encryption when it was patented. Witness gzip, a better compression scheme that arose in response to the LZW compression patent.
It may be a little late to mention it, now, but I do not believe Jack Webb's message could be interpreted as racist. Especially in the context of the Dragnet episode I was thinking of.
Responding to a newly discovered security hole, Microsoft today released a
patch to its Internet Information Server webserver less than twelve hours after the problem was discovered.
Brian Behlendorf of the Apache foundation and Theo deRaadt, OpenBSD project leader, expressed envy. "We wish we could get out patches that fast," commented Behlendorf.
"I'm actually amazed," said deRaadt. "Microsoft is usually so unresponsive. Of course, OpenBSD tries to prevent these kinds of problems in the first place."
You'll never see that reported on/.
Sorry, couldn't resist. Actually Apache, OpenBSD, and the guys who make them are great. (And hopefully have good senses of humor.)
You know, the rest of the world figured out using gets() in a server was a bad idea a long time ago.
Maybe this is just a stunt on Microsoft's part to tout their shared-source system!
Re:Except Joe AOL web browser says your page is br
on
The Great .us Giveaway
·
· Score: 1
Well, with a.geek domain, you probably wouldn't be targetting those kinds of people. It'd be like the main Internet, initially only for those with the technical know-how to be interested, and then for the masses later.
Yes, a business wouldn't want to use OpenNIC right now. But a geek might!
OpenNIC would come down firmly on the infinity side, I think. Check their page. (Cool link, though.)
OpenNIC is a nice alternative to ICANN's tyranny. It's complementary to the existing structure, too. (New TLD's don't conflict, so you can use both at the same time.) Wouldn't you like a.geek website?
Without this step, "any Web page that contains Java applications will not run -- it will be a dead page," said Jan Vitek, a professor of computer science at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "This favors Microsoft's new technologies, and will inconvenience consumers," he said.
Almost sounds like FUD against Microsoft for a change! Browsers will still include JVM's, folks.
For Web-based businesses, Vitek added, "if you want your Web page accessible to the largest number of people, you may want to drop Java" and switch to Microsoft's competing set of products, which is under development and is known as.Net.
Oh, I see. He's actually supporting Microsoft. Remember, folks, if it's FUD, it comes from Redmond.
I assume most of the genetically modified humans will also abuse their power to make sure they stay part of the upper class. History is full of this...
Yes, history is full of genetically modified humans trying to stay in power! I remember reading about that in school.
For example, Star Trek tells us about the eugenics wars of the 1990s. This was when Khan Singh (of "Space Seed" and "Star Trek II" fame) came to power. These people believed they were a race of supermen who deserved to rule the rest of us.
Of course, in later years, Star Trek revealed that the eugenics wars, also known as World War III, were actually so subtle that the average 1990s citizen wasn't aware they were going on until afterward. That's why most of you people never noticed them even though history is full of examples of genetically modified humans trying to oppress the rest of us.
All encryption is "just a matter of time until it's cracked." However, if you get enough bits, that amount of time can be 1 week, 1 year, or 1000 years. The point is to make it strong enough (enough bits) that cracking is infeasible.
As an example, RSA encryption could be broken easily if there were an efficient way to factor numbers that are the product of two large primes, but there is not. Therefore, it is more feasible to try the brute force approach (try key after key after key until you crack it). If you have a decent number of bits in your RSA key, your opponents will be dead by the time they crack it.
The idea is that folks don't have to worry about their encrypted information on the net. It is completely protected. A packet sniffer will only see an unbreakable stream of binary data.
Yes, this bothers a lot of us. Not only internationals, but laisez-faire capitalists as well.:) I recently discovered OpenNIC, an alternative DNS root that looks like a good idea if you don't want ICANN and the U.S. government deciding what your Internet looks like.
No, U.S. only decides for the US TLDs (.com,.net, etc.). Each country manages their own TLD, unless they sell it off. See the neat post elsewhere about how the UK does it.
Slashdot Mirror
DeCSS is a somewhat more gray area, but it still basically allowed people to steal.
When?
You raise some good points, but I'm not really concerned with beating Microsoft. Sure, they've done some criminal things. Sure, their software isn't very good. But, what is free software and/or open source all about to you? Is it about beating Microsoft?
For me, free software is about creating high quality software and giving everybody fair rights to use it. Microsoft doesn't feel that way, and is actively trying to obstruct these goals, and so they are, in a sense, "enemies."
But free software to me is not about getting rid of Microsoft. My goal is to see free software usurp non-free software. This will level the playing field, and Microsoft will only be able to go from software producer to service provider if their services are truly better than everybody else's. If those services are provided over the Mono implementation of .NET, Microsoft won't be the enemy anymore.
> 6. You can expect no warranties or support for illegal software and won't have access to inexpensive upgrades.
What inexpensive upgrades? I know some companies can afford to pay $80-200 to upgrade from Microsoft Frobozz v2.5.1 to Microsoft Frobozz v2.5.2, but most people I know can't.
Well, no. Treason is actually very narrowly defined within the Constitution, because previous governments the founders were familiar with had taken advantage of broad and ambiguous definitions to punish whoever they didn't like.
Kind of like the broad and ambiguous DMCA, ironically.
There is also an MP3 of the talk available from Nat Torkington, Perl 6 project leader and organizer of the Open Source Conference.
Without the graciousness of SSHCSC there would be no free alternative
Yes, there would. Witness GPG and all the alternatives that sprang up to RSA encryption when it was patented. Witness gzip, a better compression scheme that arose in response to the LZW compression patent.
It may be a little late to mention it, now, but I do not believe Jack Webb's message could be interpreted as racist. Especially in the context of the Dragnet episode I was thinking of.
It's time the US got as tough on them as they would on anyone who engages on illegal behavior.
I heard they're starting to get tougher but taking it slow, you know, like starting with young Russian fathers and such, then working their way up.
Funny, I don't believe Microsoft has ever forced anyone I know to pay them money, not even my company.
Posted using Mozilla 0.9.2 running under RedHat Linux 7.1.
It's pieces of these objects that end up in museums , labs or collectors.
Yikes! Put that down as one hobby I don't want to start!
I'm 23 and loved 'em. I still prefer those old games to most of the new stuff. (I also still like Atari. :) )
MacOS coined the term "control panel."
True; hence my attempt to make that subset a greater percentage.
Responding to a newly discovered security hole, Microsoft today released a patch to its Internet Information Server webserver less than twelve hours after the problem was discovered.
Brian Behlendorf of the Apache foundation and Theo deRaadt, OpenBSD project leader, expressed envy. "We wish we could get out patches that fast," commented Behlendorf.
"I'm actually amazed," said deRaadt. "Microsoft is usually so unresponsive. Of course, OpenBSD tries to prevent these kinds of problems in the first place."
You'll never see that reported on /.
Sorry, couldn't resist. Actually Apache, OpenBSD, and the guys who make them are great. (And hopefully have good senses of humor.)
You know, the rest of the world figured out using gets() in a server was a bad idea a long time ago.
Maybe this is just a stunt on Microsoft's part to tout their shared-source system!
Well, with a .geek domain, you probably wouldn't be targetting those kinds of people. It'd be like the main Internet, initially only for those with the technical know-how to be interested, and then for the masses later.
Yes, a business wouldn't want to use OpenNIC right now. But a geek might!
OpenNIC would come down firmly on the infinity side, I think. Check their page. (Cool link, though.)
OpenNIC is a nice alternative to ICANN's tyranny. It's complementary to the existing structure, too. (New TLD's don't conflict, so you can use both at the same time.) Wouldn't you like a .geek website?
Without this step, "any Web page that contains Java applications will not run -- it will be a dead page," said Jan Vitek, a professor of computer science at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. "This favors Microsoft's new technologies, and will inconvenience consumers," he said.
Almost sounds like FUD against Microsoft for a change! Browsers will still include JVM's, folks.
For Web-based businesses, Vitek added, "if you want your Web page accessible to the largest number of people, you may want to drop Java" and switch to Microsoft's competing set of products, which is under development and is known as .Net.
Oh, I see. He's actually supporting Microsoft. Remember, folks, if it's FUD, it comes from Redmond.
I don't see what the problem is. Just XOR all the votes with the string "encrypted" and send them in.
I assume most of the genetically modified humans will also abuse their power to make sure they stay part of the upper class. History is full of this...
Yes, history is full of genetically modified humans trying to stay in power! I remember reading about that in school.
For example, Star Trek tells us about the eugenics wars of the 1990s. This was when Khan Singh (of "Space Seed" and "Star Trek II" fame) came to power. These people believed they were a race of supermen who deserved to rule the rest of us.
Of course, in later years, Star Trek revealed that the eugenics wars, also known as World War III, were actually so subtle that the average 1990s citizen wasn't aware they were going on until afterward. That's why most of you people never noticed them even though history is full of examples of genetically modified humans trying to oppress the rest of us.
Fight the power!
All encryption is "just a matter of time until it's cracked." However, if you get enough bits, that amount of time can be 1 week, 1 year, or 1000 years. The point is to make it strong enough (enough bits) that cracking is infeasible.
As an example, RSA encryption could be broken easily if there were an efficient way to factor numbers that are the product of two large primes, but there is not. Therefore, it is more feasible to try the brute force approach (try key after key after key until you crack it). If you have a decent number of bits in your RSA key, your opponents will be dead by the time they crack it.
The idea is that folks don't have to worry about their encrypted information on the net. It is completely protected. A packet sniffer will only see an unbreakable stream of binary data.
They're trying too hard to copy MS to gain market share.
You mean like GNU copied UNIX? That reason could be equally expressed as "to gain market share." Stallman preferred ITS.
without stopping to think about the technical issues behind what they're doing.
Never mind. I can't accuse GNU of that.
Yes, this bothers a lot of us. Not only internationals, but laisez-faire capitalists as well. :) I recently discovered OpenNIC, an alternative DNS root that looks like a good idea if you don't want ICANN and the U.S. government deciding what your Internet looks like.
I don't know; if the company hires vocal developers, gives them free reign, etc. I'm not sure the company isn't the pawn. Sounds nice to me.
No, U.S. only decides for the US TLDs (.com, .net, etc.). Each country manages their own TLD, unless they sell it off. See the neat post elsewhere about how the UK does it.
Your concern is very valid, though.
sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Hold on a minute. With new increases to the length of copyright terms, that statement may not be in the public domain anymore. Better check.
Some people think just because they bought Shakespeare they have the right to share it with the world.