>they decided to go after IBM for IP violations. It's like firing a spud gun at someone armed to the teeth with ICBMs.
All I can reply to that is - BUSINESS IS BUSINESS
The open source community had better simply turn over its logs to the courts and let them see that the AUTHORS of the works were indeed recorded.
Before the next wanna-be monopoly gets ideas about grabbing the ball and going home: I trust IBM as far as I can throw them - For all I know, they're still sore because MS screwed them years ago by stopping development on OS/2 in favor of Windows.
A chronological history is the only thing that can close this scam down, babies;
We need to expose SCO/Microsoft for what they ARE: Middlemen.
Microsoft only buys other's technology and tries to capitalize on that, whereas Linux and the rest of GPL programs are all wholly creative works of their authors and copyright-released into the public under various forms of GPL.
Look at Microsoft: The ONLY time they ever had anything on the ball creatively was Windows NT. Let's face it.
Windows has gotten more "powerful", but it's no more stable, secure or reliable than NT was.
What about SCO? "Sure, we'll develop a mouse-driver for your non-standard mouse so you can run your programs on our inferior unix, mr. client, that'll be 15K $, please."
So please, Authors, step forward, enter depositions, whatever. But let's just stop these robber-barrons in their tracks.
Don't know about what you're referring to, but lok at this:
Microsoft decides to OWN game consoles, so they manufacture a console and sink their own money into it, taking a loss at each sale, just to try to drive the competition out of business.
Microsoft decides to OWN Linux, so they purchase a shell corporation (SCO) and sink their own money into it (by buying SCO shares), taking a loss at each purchase, just to try to make the marketplace believe in their fairy-tale.
What happens next?
Microsoft decides to OWN BIOSes, so they sink their won money into it by purchasing as many motherboard units that feature it as they can, taking a loss at each purchase, in an effort to make the the marketplace believe that it's catching on.
Of course if we simply hold the light up to their tactics, they'll end up going broke with these practices.
That's the ONLY way to stop these things, is to band together and NOT buy them.
If Microsoft end up having to use their own money to buy these like they are doing buying up SCO stock, in the end we'll have defeated an insidious threat and led MS to bankruptcy.
Believe me or not, I've met a few programmers (I can honestly say 3!) that were able to program in C++, but not in C!
All three were fresh out of school and were working as professional C++ programmers!
When I say "unable to program in C", I mean that exactly; they were unable to deal with pointers, didn't understand the basic variable types, couldn't write an application without the Visual C++ application-wizard generating a skeleton for them!
"What's a main?"
"ints have a range?"
"why is my unsigned variable never decrementing to -1?"
"Pass by reference???" *blank stare*
If I asked any questions like - "How do you think printf is implemented?"
I'd get a typical response like "dunno"
OK you say, printf is big, etc...
But when I'd ask "What does this code you wrote last month do?" and get "dunno" as an answer, it was sort of shocking.
You see, I think everyone trying to lower the bar by getting rid of C and anything low-level like that will backfire, if these fresh-out-of-school examples are any indication:
After finding them so useless at getting the job done except when everything was just about completely pre-chewed and put into their mouths, I did what I had to.
I laid-off one of them. Another left out of boredom and apathy because I gave him the task of fixing his own bugs.
If we lower the bar, it won't prevent problems from existing and needing to be solved, you see, and only the programmers with TRUE aptitude will succeed, and they won't mind C one bit.
Microsoft is trying to turn ITSELF into Linux! Hahahahaha!!!
Here's the board meeting where the MS execs struck upon the plan -
"OK, everyone knows Windows is a sinking boat, Right? So why not take all our money and pour it into the competition. While do that we have the GPL ruled unconstitutional, and BINGO - at the end of it all we are left sitting with all the marbles and the people who created it have NOTHING! MUAHAHA !!!"
Let's face it, the plan COULDN'T have come from Darl, he's just a lackey.
Damn. That IS frightening. I'm not an american, but it makes me sad when I see such a great people who's society was founded on the finest ideals going to hell like that. It makes me wonder if revolution can be the answer, sometimes. I mean your founding fathers succeeded in throwing off their shackles by taking arms, so it may have to happen again...
If software businesses end up patenting everything, then you can still use the idea in a GNU (free) software, right?
The patents are only prohibitive if you charge for your software, is that correct?
In that case, wouldn't pretty much all software become GPL? Since no one but the BIG software vendors could possibly pay all the patents included in their software, they would end up having to charge an arm and a leg for the software they produce, and since no one would buy it at that price, the GNU project would quickly become THE software industry.
Never even mind "how do we get the lump of material up there", aren't there meteorites or other space-junk that we could snag on the way?
I suppose a solid block of metal has a better chance of reaching the surface, but since mars has a really tenous atmosphere, just how likely is a meteor to reach the surface, I wonder...
Slashdot Mirror
Can anyone think of a name ou could form by mixing the letters
KDE GNOME
Geode?
Genomed?
And after hundreds of years, someone will come along and offer humans the RED pill, to leave the Matrix...
Just goes to show, people are never happy.
>they decided to go after IBM for IP violations. It's like firing a spud gun at someone armed to the teeth with ICBMs.
All I can reply to that is - BUSINESS IS BUSINESS
The open source community had better simply turn over its logs to the courts and let them see that the AUTHORS of the works were indeed recorded.
Before the next wanna-be monopoly gets ideas about grabbing the ball and going home: I trust IBM as far as I can throw them - For all I know, they're still sore because MS screwed them years ago by stopping development on OS/2 in favor of Windows.
A chronological history is the only thing that can close this scam down, babies;
We need to expose SCO/Microsoft for what they ARE: Middlemen.
Microsoft only buys other's technology and tries to capitalize on that, whereas Linux and the rest of GPL programs are all wholly creative works of their authors and copyright-released into the public under various forms of GPL.
Look at Microsoft: The ONLY time they ever had anything on the ball creatively was Windows NT. Let's face it.
Windows has gotten more "powerful", but it's no more stable, secure or reliable than NT was.
What about SCO?
"Sure, we'll develop a mouse-driver for your non-standard mouse so you can run your programs on our inferior unix, mr. client, that'll be 15K $, please."
So please, Authors, step forward, enter depositions, whatever. But let's just stop these robber-barrons in their tracks.
Yeah, we can only hope they do!
But why are they doing this, then? It does seem suicidal...
Don't think they cannot pull this off.
IBM once almost bankrupted a whole state that was suing them because of their endless supply of money and lawyers.
SCO, because Microsoft is behind it, has even MORE money, and ultimately lawyers at their command to do this...
The anonymous link is the ONLY mention of this supposed virus on the whole Internet!
I was wondering where you'd got to!
Working for MS now, are you?
Ah Bob, you love hopeless causes.
Don't know about what you're referring to, but lok at this:
Microsoft decides to OWN game consoles, so they manufacture a console and sink their own money into it, taking a loss at each sale, just to try to drive the competition out of business.
Microsoft decides to OWN Linux, so they purchase a shell corporation (SCO) and sink their own money into it (by buying SCO shares), taking a loss at each purchase, just to try to make the marketplace believe in their fairy-tale.
What happens next?
Microsoft decides to OWN BIOSes, so they sink their won money into it by purchasing as many motherboard units that feature it as they can, taking a loss at each purchase, in an effort to make the the marketplace believe that it's catching on.
Of course if we simply hold the light up to their tactics, they'll end up going broke with these practices.
Spread the news.
That's the ONLY way to stop these things, is to band together and NOT buy them.
If Microsoft end up having to use their own money to buy these like they are doing buying up SCO stock, in the end we'll have defeated an insidious threat and led MS to bankruptcy.
Win-win!
Believe me or not, I've met a few programmers (I can honestly say 3!) that were able to program in C++, but not in C!
All three were fresh out of school and were working as professional C++ programmers!
When I say "unable to program in C", I mean that exactly; they were unable to deal with pointers, didn't understand the basic variable types, couldn't write an application without the Visual C++ application-wizard generating a skeleton for them!
"What's a main?"
"ints have a range?"
"why is my unsigned variable never decrementing to -1?"
"Pass by reference???" *blank stare*
If I asked any questions like - "How do you think printf is implemented?"
I'd get a typical response like "dunno"
OK you say, printf is big, etc...
But when I'd ask "What does this code you wrote last month do?" and get "dunno" as an answer, it was sort of shocking.
You see, I think everyone trying to lower the bar by getting rid of C and anything low-level like that will backfire, if these fresh-out-of-school examples are any indication:
After finding them so useless at getting the job done except when everything was just about completely pre-chewed and put into their mouths, I did what I had to.
I laid-off one of them.
Another left out of boredom and apathy because I gave him the task of fixing his own bugs.
If we lower the bar, it won't prevent problems from existing and needing to be solved, you see, and only the programmers with TRUE aptitude will succeed, and they won't mind C one bit.
Microsoft is trying to turn ITSELF into Linux!
Hahahahaha!!!
Here's the board meeting where the MS execs struck upon the plan -
"OK, everyone knows Windows is a sinking boat, Right? So why not take all our money and pour it into the competition. While do that we have the GPL ruled unconstitutional, and BINGO - at the end of it all we are left sitting with all the marbles and the people who created it have NOTHING! MUAHAHA !!!"
Let's face it, the plan COULDN'T have come from Darl, he's just a lackey.
Darl is a stalking-horse, that's all.
Sorry, I thought this was Fark for a second.
Ryan,
You MUST read Cory Doctorow's
Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom
It talks about backing up brains and the effect it has on a human society.
http://craphound.com/down/download.php
It's free, too!
Great story!
Granted that there might be a few "script kiddies" left, but in fact writing viruses is now a BUSINESS.
A business where spammers will pay you to recruit them an army of zombie remailers.
Rather obvious, isn't it?
Enabling terrorists...
Who do you want to DOS today?
When will Microsoft be held responsible for aiding terrorists?
It's not Linux that is the tool of terrorists, it's Windows.
And that got modded funny?
I'd say it's rather insightful, actually.
Want to make a difference?
Convince any user of SCO's *nix products that you will boycott their service/product unless they DROP SCO.
Damn. That IS frightening.
I'm not an american, but it makes me sad when I see such a great people who's society was founded on the finest ideals going to hell like that.
It makes me wonder if revolution can be the answer, sometimes.
I mean your founding fathers succeeded in throwing off their shackles by taking arms, so it may have to happen again...
I'd like to see you lobby congress effectively WITHOUT money, then.
No, I believe he's right:
Corporations have the same rights as INDIVIDUALS under U.S. law.
Therefore, the more money an individual has, the more he can influence the judicial system through lobbyists.
Of course I am basing my understanding from a paper I read some time ago, but that did seem to be the gist of it.
OK, thanks.
But if you arrive at the same result with your software, and have not consulted the patent, are you OK then?
I mean like the Wine project has done.
If software businesses end up patenting everything, then you can still use the idea in a GNU (free) software, right?
The patents are only prohibitive if you charge for your software, is that correct?
In that case, wouldn't pretty much all software become GPL? Since no one but the BIG software vendors could possibly pay all the patents included in their software, they would end up having to charge an arm and a leg for the software they produce, and since no one would buy it at that price, the GNU project would quickly become THE software industry.
I'm probably all wrong, can someone explain?
You mean a "Go directly to jail, do NOT pass Go, do NOT collect 699$" card, right?
If I had points.
That sounds like an interesting idea.
Never even mind "how do we get the lump of material up there", aren't there meteorites or other space-junk that we could snag on the way?
I suppose a solid block of metal has a better chance of reaching the surface, but since mars has a really tenous atmosphere, just how likely is a meteor to reach the surface, I wonder...
'We discovered that when we used the chip to stimulate the neurons, their synaptic strength was enhanced'
Makes sense, doesn't it?
The (possibly) frightening spect of this is that it may pave the way for artificial lifeforms/cyborgs/skynet...