Slashdotters will be in pure state of joy when the next leaked memo says something like "...as I read in Slashdot, said by SilverspurG, we need to do this, this and this...
You set rather high standards for Slashdotters. Most of us will be in a pure state of joy if we can get clips of the MS chair-man in action.
Fact is... And... (hope all the Slashdotter's are sitting down)... they don't care about OS security or a few bugs...
Fact is.. this is Slashdot. For the rare Joe ServicePack reading these pages, he ought to be better informed. Not mis-informed.
Bill knows this and knows what sells, "wasting" time on fixing security holes and the like does not deliver more profit to the shareholders.
If enough developers got informed about the real Directions at Microsoft and stayed away from the Windows platform, the shareholders would turn a pck of hungry wolves. Ordinary users would have few, if any worthwhile apps to run on their Windows boxes.
Once they start using Firefox and Opera and get comfy with the interface, they'd rapidly change the engine as well.
Imagine saying that to your manager, who then says, "Great. Let's get RedHat." Somewhere along the line, you have to make a tiny modification to support some odd piece of hardware, and suddenly your support contract is worth less than the paper it isn't printed on.
On the other hand, with closed source Windows, Outlook, SQL server and Office, these 'odd pieces of software' changes are done via Service Packs and patches. Suddenly, my Outlook which has been working smoothly, breaks down. And whatcan I do about it? Patch it?
I'm getting problems while patching.. "Size: 1.9 MB
A vulnerability exists in Outlook Express that could allow an attacker to cause Outlook Express to fail. You can help protect your computer by installing this update. After you install this update you may need to restart your computer.
I can't view or modify any significant Microsoft source without signing an NDA and paying millions of dollars, or risking serious prison time.
Worse... when someone like Citrix or Symantec does a better job with 'closed source' base, MS will change the paradigm and break the better app. Running the better guy out of business. And a new crippled MS version of "Terminal Services" or "Anti Malware" will be born.
is.... Windows 98 SE plus Cygwin. A Linux box sitting in the corner with all the apps, including the browser. Windows 98 to handle all the driver and user issues. No support required - after all, what support does MS offer for any of it's products?
What a heaping plate of crud. This is embarassing.
Actually I found this as lucid and useful as the "Executive Summary" and 'Mitigating Factors' in a Microsoft Security bulletin;-). Dielectric Stress my foot. I guess if people lack basic scientific knowledge or even a scientific temper, any nonsense can be written as if it were gospel truth!
Unless the author of the piece is himself at the vortex of the storm, he isn't acting as the dielectric in the capacitor that is the storm. His fevered imagination is probly the cause of all the dielectric stress.
maybe MS is hoping the virus writers would have their code ready so they can launch their product with their new antivirus or "Malware Protection Utility" or whatever...
would download a few gigs of leaked, leaky code and instal it on their systems just for the heck of it? Is there anything exciting (from the end user's point of view - NOT the MS marketing point of view) in Vista? All the exciting features have been deferred or declared missing in Vista.
if the Richest Man in the world suddenly showed up in your Computer Science class as a guest speaker
I wonder what he'd answer if some kid asks him.... Emperor's New Clothes style:
1. Why did you kill DOS?
2. If XP is 38 times more stable than Win98... can I get 38 licenses of '98 for the price of XP?... and so on.
Simply getting overawed by his riches indicates childish fantasies... not a nice thing for college goers about to build a career.
all indications are that he was a hell of a programmer individually.
a programmer who used vi and a shell environment where ^c meant 'break' not 'copy'. And then he destroyed... or tried to destroy the environment he grew up in.
What does Passport authentication have to do with Open Source s/w distribution? Has Amazon or eBay affected s/w distribution? So why should an MS authentication scheme do it?
So point is, this decision wasn't made based upon tech savvy. It was made based upon cost.
I call Bullshit. Supporting different versions of MS products is indeed more technically challenging and daunting - worse, in many cases it's near impossible - you actually refer to the stupid advice to delete a patch! Considering non-MS agencies know and care more about MS formats and support them in their packages, this is both a cost-effective AND wise decision.
Better late than never. Or rather, better earlier than other govts. at any rate - govts like India, China and Peru have already decided against proprietary formats. A shame the Fed govt is still locked up in MS formats. Let's see is Mass. decision leads to a Mass movement for Open-ness in protocols, formats and standards.
Likewise Open LDAP, Open HTML:-)... Open Groupware instead of locked down Exchange bloatware formats and MTAs and protocls.... Open FS instead of WinFS.. Open Database - okay that's there with ODBC... hmm. Interesting times ahead.
Slashdot Mirror
Slashdotters will be in pure state of joy when the next leaked memo says something like "...as I read in Slashdot, said by SilverspurG, we need to do this, this and this...
You set rather high standards for Slashdotters. Most of us will be in a pure state of joy if we can get clips of the MS chair-man in action.
Fact is ... And ... (hope all the Slashdotter's are sitting down) ... they don't care about OS security or a few bugs...
Fact is.. this is Slashdot. For the rare Joe ServicePack reading these pages, he ought to be better informed. Not mis-informed.
Bill knows this and knows what sells, "wasting" time on fixing security holes and the like does not deliver more profit to the shareholders.
If enough developers got informed about the real Directions at Microsoft and stayed away from the Windows platform, the shareholders would turn a pck of hungry wolves. Ordinary users would have few, if any worthwhile apps to run on their Windows boxes.
Once they start using Firefox and Opera and get comfy with the interface, they'd rapidly change the engine as well.
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Gates, Ballmer, Ozzie, et al: I'm going to give you a hint which will help you...
If the chair-man acts on your advice, the shareholders would probly tear him apart...
If the only feature in Vista was a shiny, new, unproven anti-malware on top of XP, people would still buy it in droves.
A thing of beauty is joy forever... Keats.
A thing of bugs is revenue forever... M$
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was to factor Large Primes... another was to use less than 640k!
You make a great point.... until:
"When X grows up, they will be just like us in all the bad ways but lack our strengths."
I really wish X grows up... I mean, as in X Windows. That's actually a weak point in the Open Source world.
Imagine saying that to your manager, who then says, "Great. Let's get RedHat." Somewhere along the line, you have to make a tiny modification to support some odd piece of hardware, and suddenly your support contract is worth less than the paper it isn't printed on.
/won't/ fix?
On the other hand, with closed source Windows, Outlook, SQL server and Office, these 'odd pieces of software' changes are done via Service Packs and patches. Suddenly, my Outlook which has been working smoothly, breaks down. And whatcan I do about it? Patch it?
I'm getting problems while patching..
"Size: 1.9 MB
A vulnerability exists in Outlook Express that could allow an attacker to cause Outlook Express to fail. You can help protect your computer by installing this update. After you install this update you may need to restart your computer.
More information for this update can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=19527"
This patch doesn't install properly. So what do I do now? Call MS for support? They say "First apply the patch".
What is he going to think of your Open Source when something essential breaks that you can't fix and Red Hat
Strangely, this happens very often with Windows and is extremely rare or unheard of in the Open Source world.
I can't view or modify any significant Microsoft source without signing an NDA and paying millions of dollars, or risking serious prison time.
Worse... when someone like Citrix or Symantec does a better job with 'closed source' base, MS will change the paradigm and break the better app. Running the better guy out of business. And a new crippled MS version of "Terminal Services" or "Anti Malware" will be born.
I don't say any holes in your argument, but I think MS wants some reasons to release Service Packs.
Never believe anything to be true, until Micorosft says it isn't.
I hardly have any 'computing' power left... and my Linux box is blocked by a firewall ;-(
is .... Windows 98 SE plus Cygwin. A Linux box sitting in the corner with all the apps, including the browser. Windows 98 to handle all the driver and user issues. No support required - after all, what support does MS offer for any of it's products?
only the blind, deaf and dumb people will be using MS Office!
What a heaping plate of crud. This is embarassing.
;-). Dielectric Stress my foot. I guess if people lack basic scientific knowledge or even a scientific temper, any nonsense can be written as if it were gospel truth!
Actually I found this as lucid and useful as the "Executive Summary" and 'Mitigating Factors' in a Microsoft Security bulletin
Unless the author of the piece is himself at the vortex of the storm, he isn't acting as the dielectric in the capacitor that is the storm. His fevered imagination is probly the cause of all the dielectric stress.
Time to trademark G-string...
-
maybe MS is hoping the virus writers would have their code ready so they can launch their product with their new antivirus or "Malware Protection Utility" or whatever...
would download a few gigs of leaked, leaky code and instal it on their systems just for the heck of it? Is there anything exciting (from the end user's point of view - NOT the MS marketing point of view) in Vista? All the exciting features have been deferred or declared missing in Vista.
Any idea which of the several versions leaked?
Good carpenters are cheaper than good IT managers....
if the Richest Man in the world suddenly showed up in your Computer Science class as a guest speaker I wonder what he'd answer if some kid asks him.... Emperor's New Clothes style: 1. Why did you kill DOS? 2. If XP is 38 times more stable than Win98... can I get 38 licenses of '98 for the price of XP? ... and so on.
Simply getting overawed by his riches indicates childish fantasies... not a nice thing for college goers about to build a career.
all indications are that he was a hell of a programmer individually. a programmer who used vi and a shell environment where ^c meant 'break' not 'copy'. And then he destroyed... or tried to destroy the environment he grew up in.
Or rather... what computer? what science? Colleges deal with science and technology.... and Microsoft has been - is -and will be a marketing company.
What does Passport authentication have to do with Open Source s/w distribution? Has Amazon or eBay affected s/w distribution? So why should an MS authentication scheme do it?
So point is, this decision wasn't made based upon tech savvy. It was made based upon cost.
I call Bullshit. Supporting different versions of MS products is indeed more technically challenging and daunting - worse, in many cases it's near impossible - you actually refer to the stupid advice to delete a patch! Considering non-MS agencies know and care more about MS formats and support them in their packages, this is both a cost-effective AND wise decision.
Better late than never. Or rather, better earlier than other govts. at any rate - govts like India, China and Peru have already decided against proprietary formats. A shame the Fed govt is still locked up in MS formats. Let's see is Mass. decision leads to a Mass movement for Open-ness in protocols, formats and standards.
Likewise Open LDAP, Open HTML :-)... Open Groupware instead of locked down Exchange bloatware formats and MTAs and protocls.... Open FS instead of WinFS.. Open Database - okay that's there with ODBC... hmm. Interesting times ahead.