"Is Bill telling his employees in the Mac Business Unit that all their hard work is going to be for nothing? Is he planning on shutting down the MacBU, an that's why he's saying Mac OS won't be around?"
"Gee Bill, what about Mac OS? Considering how good that OS is these days, not to mention the Mac hardware, you probably shouldn't turn your back on it in a dark alley."
Except it cannot be installed on Intel based machines, something the market seems to want 10's of millions of. Linux and Windows are not stuck on that platform.
" I think it'll be here 10 years from now."
Sure it'll be here. The quesiton is, will it even remotely be a competitor to Linux or Windows? If Linux + Windows = 98%, doesn't the statement, in all practicality, hold true?
" mention the above, because it's plain to see that the Xbox is already a success. By market standards, they're in an incredible place. (Um.. TurboGrafx, anyone... Or N-Gage?) Sure, they're not the number one player, but coming from nowhere, they've made themselves into a contender, and that's a success as far as I can see."
What a lot of Slashdotters don't know is that it's okay to not be in first place in the games market. A lot of people say the Nintendo 64 failed because the PS sold more units. Um, Nintendo sold 30 million N64's along with millions of software they produced. I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't have a McDuckian Money Bin on their property.
"*Huh?* If you are that concerned about EULA's (and I'm not saying that you are wrong to be) simply email the company asking to see their Eula before purchasing."
You shouldn't have to do that.
A.) That means they can change the EULA on a whim. B.) That doesn't protect impulse buy products.
I'm all for caveat emptor, but that isn't a blank check for companies to find clever ways of hiding important details before purchase.
"I can't see how Blizzard are to blame for this. Perhaps they are on the big list, but not before the POTUS, Congress, House, etc."
Blizzard's hated blindly here because they used the DMCA to shut down a free service that made their games more fun. Sadly, the little detail that this also bypassed their anti-piracy measures has been lost in the winds of time.
"I don't know what you mean by "suddenly disappear" (it certainly wasn't in reference to anything I stated in my post)."
I apologize if I have misinterpreted your meaning, but your post does read that way.
"If you run Linux (or OS X, which you left out in your reply), your odds of being cracked/spywared drop low enough that it's not really worth fretting over--even if you don't turn on the built-in firewalls (which are infinitely superior to the Windows built-in firewall)."
I left out OSX only because he cannot install OSX on a Windows machine.
As for the odds being low, that doesn't really help, does it? You still have to regularly install updates to Linux and the apps you run on top of it, Mozilla for example. I found this out myself. Buying all of Slashdot's hype that Linux is secure, I built a Linux webserver for my company. 2 weeks later it was rooted. Our newly hired Linux expert had to rebuild it 'securely'. Thankfully for them, they had him on hand to clean up the mess caused by my incompetance.
"So while you may be playing the pedant card and using language that is "technically correct", you have added more confusion than clarification to the issue. I hope you don't mean that Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X are all equally crackable. If you aren't careful, you can end up with a cracked XP system during the install process, what a joke!"
My only real point is that you have to be vigilant either way. It's a question of whether or not it's 'worth the fuss'. Interestingly enough, Windows' highly publicized insecurity has lead to some interesting developments such as auto-updating virus protection and Windows Update itself. If Linux doesn't have these, it needs them, especially when it reaches enough users for worms etc to really be an issue.
I'll put it another way: I'm a Windows user. I have several machines I have to take care of. I don't have problems with exploits trojans or spyware. Once in a great while something will come along. I take care of it, bfd. I spent more time building the ill-fated Linux/Apache server than I have in a year of maintaining exploit-related Windows problems.
"A question worth asking is whether whatever it is that has you running Windows is worth the hassle of worrying about virii/worms/etc."
Seeing as how Linux has its share of it too, it's not all that clear that hassle would suddenly disappear. Add, on top of that, jumping through all the hoops of setting up Linux and finding alternative software that does what he needs, assuming such software exists. (note: I don't mean for that to sound like an attack on Linux, but not everybody can just suddenly switch without losing something. I can't because of a particular app I use daily.)
"Not true. See here [kiplinger.com]. Granted, credit cards have a broader umbrella then debit cards, but there are protections in place - the Visa and MC "zero-liability" apply to debit cars these days as well. It's tougher to dispute a debit purchase vs a credit purchase, but's its definately doable."
I was under the impression this was under the discretion of the bank you're with. Am I mistaken? (Note: The context of your link is about federal law...)
"I'll agree with you (or anyone else saying it's virtually nothing), the day you (or the other guys) agree to let me send you an invoice every time my work XP machine needs a reboot."
A friend of mine used to have a crappy machine that needed rebooting all the time. Stupid thing crashed if you just looked at it wrong. A motheroard replacement fixed that.
Sounds like Linux is more fault tolerant. Kudos to them for making it so and all, but my initial reaction is "fix your computer".
I'll give you partial credit, though, if you've been running Windows for a while. After a few months, it starts to 'rot' and needs to be reinstalled. Though I enjoy the occasional spring cleaning on my machine, I still grit my teeth that this is really necessary. Stupid registry.
Slashdot Mirror
"If Apple ever releases a PC version of OSX, M$ is screwed. But that won't happen now, will it?"
Um, what makes you think millions of people would suddenly drop money into a Mac OS for PC? And when I say millions, I mean 'enough to screw MS'.
"I dunno, I'll consult my Magic 8 Ball."
Hey! It says Outlook not so good! Amazing!
"Is Bill telling his employees in the Mac Business Unit that all their hard work is going to be for nothing? Is he planning on shutting down the MacBU, an that's why he's saying Mac OS won't be around?"
I dunno, I'll consult my Magic 8 Ball.
"THis is the same man (Borg?) that said 640K is enough for everyone."
No.
"and now hes claiming 2OS is enough for the whole world..."
He didn't say that either. I'll give you a hint: The word 'enough' doesn't appear anywhere in that sentence.
"I just lost faith in humanity..."
Everybody who voted to have Bill Gates solely represent humanity, raise your hands.
"Gee Bill, what about Mac OS? Considering how good that OS is these days, not to mention the Mac hardware, you probably shouldn't turn your back on it in a dark alley."
Except it cannot be installed on Intel based machines, something the market seems to want 10's of millions of. Linux and Windows are not stuck on that platform.
" I think it'll be here 10 years from now."
Sure it'll be here. The quesiton is, will it even remotely be a competitor to Linux or Windows? If Linux + Windows = 98%, doesn't the statement, in all practicality, hold true?
"MS Engineer 2: "Wait, couldn't we not patch it and instead sell the patch together with others as a piece of software with an annual update fee?""
I've met quite a few software engineers, and none of them would suggest that. (Nor would a PHB promote them, they'd take credit for it instead.)
" mention the above, because it's plain to see that the Xbox is already a success. By market standards, they're in an incredible place. (Um.. TurboGrafx, anyone... Or N-Gage?) Sure, they're not the number one player, but coming from nowhere, they've made themselves into a contender, and that's a success as far as I can see."
What a lot of Slashdotters don't know is that it's okay to not be in first place in the games market. A lot of people say the Nintendo 64 failed because the PS sold more units. Um, Nintendo sold 30 million N64's along with millions of software they produced. I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't have a McDuckian Money Bin on their property.
"*Huh?* If you are that concerned about EULA's (and I'm not saying that you are wrong to be) simply email the company asking to see their Eula before purchasing."
You shouldn't have to do that.
A.) That means they can change the EULA on a whim.
B.) That doesn't protect impulse buy products.
I'm all for caveat emptor, but that isn't a blank check for companies to find clever ways of hiding important details before purchase.
"I can't see how Blizzard are to blame for this. Perhaps they are on the big list, but not before the POTUS, Congress, House, etc."
Blizzard's hated blindly here because they used the DMCA to shut down a free service that made their games more fun. Sadly, the little detail that this also bypassed their anti-piracy measures has been lost in the winds of time.
"No offense, but then you are a fool who should not touch any sort of computer as an administrator, ever."
Hardly a scientific deduction. My Windows server lasted 2 years without any exploits/intrusions etc.
"It is people like you who are the cause for all the ill we have on the Internet - worms, virusses, and spam. It is YOUR fault."
Really? So who's second place then? The guy who wrote a defect into Linux, or the guy who wrote the worm?
"I hope the company deducted the damage you caused from your salary."
There wasn't any monetary damage.
"Bwahahahaha! This information will be used against you in a future troll."
Hehe. Look forward to it.
"I don't know what you mean by "suddenly disappear" (it certainly wasn't in reference to anything I stated in my post)."
I apologize if I have misinterpreted your meaning, but your post does read that way.
"If you run Linux (or OS X, which you left out in your reply), your odds of being cracked/spywared drop low enough that it's not really worth fretting over--even if you don't turn on the built-in firewalls (which are infinitely superior to the Windows built-in firewall)."
I left out OSX only because he cannot install OSX on a Windows machine.
As for the odds being low, that doesn't really help, does it? You still have to regularly install updates to Linux and the apps you run on top of it, Mozilla for example. I found this out myself. Buying all of Slashdot's hype that Linux is secure, I built a Linux webserver for my company. 2 weeks later it was rooted. Our newly hired Linux expert had to rebuild it 'securely'. Thankfully for them, they had him on hand to clean up the mess caused by my incompetance.
"So while you may be playing the pedant card and using language that is "technically correct", you have added more confusion than clarification to the issue. I hope you don't mean that Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X are all equally crackable. If you aren't careful, you can end up with a cracked XP system during the install process, what a joke!"
My only real point is that you have to be vigilant either way. It's a question of whether or not it's 'worth the fuss'. Interestingly enough, Windows' highly publicized insecurity has lead to some interesting developments such as auto-updating virus protection and Windows Update itself. If Linux doesn't have these, it needs them, especially when it reaches enough users for worms etc to really be an issue.
I'll put it another way: I'm a Windows user. I have several machines I have to take care of. I don't have problems with exploits trojans or spyware. Once in a great while something will come along. I take care of it, bfd. I spent more time building the ill-fated Linux/Apache server than I have in a year of maintaining exploit-related Windows problems.
"A question worth asking is whether whatever it is that has you running Windows is worth the hassle of worrying about virii/worms/etc."
Seeing as how Linux has its share of it too, it's not all that clear that hassle would suddenly disappear. Add, on top of that, jumping through all the hoops of setting up Linux and finding alternative software that does what he needs, assuming such software exists. (note: I don't mean for that to sound like an attack on Linux, but not everybody can just suddenly switch without losing something. I can't because of a particular app I use daily.)
"So, because Ms creates jobs, they shouldn't have to pay income tax? On what planet does that make sense?"
The planet where that sort of tax dodge is allowed?
Your beef's with the gov't, not MS.
"Not true. See here [kiplinger.com]. Granted, credit cards have a broader umbrella then debit cards, but there are protections in place - the Visa and MC "zero-liability" apply to debit cars these days as well. It's tougher to dispute a debit purchase vs a credit purchase, but's its definately doable."
I was under the impression this was under the discretion of the bank you're with. Am I mistaken? (Note: The context of your link is about federal law...)
"As it started to erupt, I caught this spectacular shot. You should have been there!"
How'd you get that photo of my boss catching me reading Slashdot?
"It sure looks like a cloud was framed strategically behind the moutain to make the "steam" look like more than it was. "
I wanna make a tin-foil hat joke but I can't think of a clever way of phrasing it. >:I
"Now that would've been something to see."
Heh when you said that I imagined a cartoonesque hole in the wall shaped like your relative. I'm a chicken.
"(someone had to say it)"
Why? To make sure the joke's never funny again?
"You are sooooo good looking"
Pssst mods: Seinfeld reference. It's obscure, not off topic.
"Would they now let you return discs with copyright protective measures for a refund since you are unable to copy them?"
They'd have to if their discs could be returned for not working. I think this is a step to prevent that.
Don't worry, their "Open your mouth and close your eyes" business model will stay firmly in tact.
Set your faces to stun.
"I thought it was funny... I guess some people can't understand the joke."
I think it sounded like I was rushing to Bush's defense. That's a no-no around here.
"..another reason to remove the Bush administration from office:"
Yet another reason for me to ignore people who start a sentence with 'yet another reason'.
"I'll agree with you (or anyone else saying it's virtually nothing), the day you (or the other guys) agree to let me send you an invoice every time my work XP machine needs a reboot."
A friend of mine used to have a crappy machine that needed rebooting all the time. Stupid thing crashed if you just looked at it wrong. A motheroard replacement fixed that.
Sounds like Linux is more fault tolerant. Kudos to them for making it so and all, but my initial reaction is "fix your computer".
I'll give you partial credit, though, if you've been running Windows for a while. After a few months, it starts to 'rot' and needs to be reinstalled. Though I enjoy the occasional spring cleaning on my machine, I still grit my teeth that this is really necessary. Stupid registry.