Backroom deals killed Linux on the Desktop.
on
Desktop Linux Is Dead
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· Score: 3, Interesting
Every time Linux has been on its way to success on the desktop Microsoft has stepped in and made its life short. Why did Dell despite pretty decent figures refuse to sell their Linux desktops in the open? Why was it only avaliable in a very limited amount of countries? Why did a computer with Linux cost more than one without an OS or FreeDos, or Windows?
Linux was well enroute to gooble the whole netbook market up when suddenly Asus ditched it overnight after hard pressure from Microsoft. Resellers refused to take it in despite good sales figures.
This has nothing to do with Linux in itself. It could be the best OS in the world but it still dont have a chance until the monopoly is broken. The OEMs are held by the balls by Microsoft and nothing will change until that grip is lessened.
Or, the people ruthless enough to screw the right people and lie, steal and cheat their way up to fame and fortune. Zuckerberg did not create a better interface but he did manage to bring more people to his service. The interesting part is HOW he managed to bring people to facebook.
I like the idea of cutting all those Windows boxes off the net. It would be very interesting to see what all those millions of users do once they realize Microsoft has sold them crap that they cant use on the internet because its a steaming pile of security holes. Today most people wont notice their computer have been owned, cutting them off would change that pretty clearly.
TPM etc are just thrown in by Microsoft to use this as a way of cutting non-windows systems.
The way this would better security isnt that the computers are cut off the net. It would work by making Microsofts users start to see clearly the downsides of bad security and start demanding better security from Microsoft instead of todays lipservice. A couple of million users without access to the internet wont accept Microsoft sidestepping the blame with UAC, they will demand them fixing the underlying issues.
Consumer demands and what happens in IT are two very different things. People want applications, not an OS. The OS is just like a disk, a memory module or some other mindnumbingly boring thing. As long as it runs your applications, works well and stays the hell out of the way people couldnt care less about what OS they run.
Using Windows is not possible if your goal is to make a computer that just works without loads of management and fuzzing about. Managementwise, it really sucks.
BPOS has had an awful track record when it comes to reliability. I hope they have a backup plan for those days the service is gone. Im also curius about how they will handle the data breach problems? Dont they have a responsibility for keeping stuff private about their citizens? Good luck with that on BPOS.
" If Google doesn't step up now and make a really serious effort to work out deals with all those patent holders, Android as a platform may be in trouble and app developers would suffer."
The problem is, there exists a couple of thousands of exactly similar patents like the ones Microsoft has that are exactly like theirs. Thanks to US patent office you can patent what the heck you want no matter how much prior art exists.
This is just Microsoft realising their platform is doomed and throwing sticks into the wheels of Android. Personally if i was hesitant to WP7 before, now we all know even Microsoft thinks it sucks and will not succeed on its own merits.
I dont know what you have been injecting into your bloodstream but.Net is not something anyone would want to mimic in any way shape or form. It sucks. 1995 called and wanted that Java clone of yours back.
I must be really behind but i can honestly not recall Live Spaces. I have visited exactly 1 blog there and after reading three lines i thought it was some kind of marketing site for Microsoft like gethtefacts or something. Guess the astroturfers be moving to Wordpress soon =)
While Linux arent a magic cure it has been and continue to be well ahead of Windows. Coupled with SELinux i would dare to say its pretty darn secure. If viruses becomes a problem im 100% sure the solution on Linux wont be antivirus as its a flawed and utterly stupid kind of action that does not address the underlying problem.
My fav security OS right now is Chrome, mostly because it regards the user himself a security risk and dont trow an UAC tantrum pushing any security related issue over onto the users shifting the blame away.
The fucking point of the internet is klicking on links. Playing whack a mole with stuff like antivirus, antispam, antiwhatever suggests your operating system is broken. If you have to verify every damn link you could as well just go for chess by physical mail and penpals instead of the internet.
The user uses the internet as intended, the developers, not so much.
Israel and the US are the aggressors here. I fully understand Iran wanting nukes to protect themselves from what has happened to Vietnam, South Korea, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan etc.
Who did protect themselves first? Israel and the US already have striked Iran while Iran has been very laid back. Dont forget either that the US paid Iraq fully for going to war with Iran. The US even fucking providided Iraq with biological weapons to use against Iran.
I fully condone Iran getting nuclear weapons to protect themselves from the US and Israel. However, nothing points to Iran making nuclear weapons at this time. It has been fully debunked and written of just as Iraqs "weapons of mass destructions" that proved to be an utter and outright lie just because the US was aking to go to war with anyone just as long as Pentagon could go to war.
In Sweden hunters have shot dogs, horses, tractors and other strange non-elk looking stuff, not to mention all the people getting killed in hunting related accidents. I knew an old man, still hunting, but he couldnt drive because he couldnt even see the tip of his nose. Crazy people.
Microsoft became the new IBM by being more evil and being even more absent of any morals than even the Nazgul. They managed to trick IBM and that in itself is not an easy feat.
Microsoft was bad from the very first day, they did not suddenly turn into assholes. From the first day when they tricked themselves to Qdos that was an illegal copy of CP/M and sold it before they owned it, they have been nothing about customers and all about making money no matter who gets maimed in the process. Their least important bit of all is the end customer.
The 4 GB barrier was overcome a long time ago on 32 bit systems. The reason people still think its a problem is because Microsoft decided you as a customer shouldnt be able to use more than 4 GB memory on 32-bit since Windows 2000 . The limitations are solely artificial today on Windows 32-bit but linux gladly handle any memory you toss at it.
In any case where there has been something to fix, Google has stepped up to the plate and done the right thing. I cant really draw to memory Microsoft doing this even once.
As for Microsofts complaints, there arent any substance. You have whiny complaints about failed SEO, that Google spiders wont index flash, broken sites not being indexed properly and linkfarms not going to teh moon. We have yet to see a legit complaint and that should tell us something about just how paranoid Google are about giving everyone a fair chance. Microsoft has vacuumed the world for bad ranking pages and all they can find is those crappy sites?
If you translate Microsofts complaints you hear a five year old boy telling his mom he got whacked up by the girl next door when she just beat him at running fast.
Groklaw has proven to be very accurate and true, especially for anyone that has followed the site since the beginning of the SCO fraud. If there is one site on the net that i trust 100% its Groklaw, because they have earned my trust by telling the truth all along. When someone says something for years and is proven right and true again and again and again, they deserve your trust.
And best of all, even if Groklaw would be biased they always provide ample links for anyone to build their own opinion.
"I note with interest that Google seems to have developed a template defense when it's caught out."
Well, thats because EVERY complaint has had Microsoft behind it being the driving force.
Microsoft has without a doubt failed to compete with Google using their old tactics of smear, illegal bundling and OEM pressure. Despite oodles of money wasted Microsoft hasnt managed to put even a dent in Googles revenues or market share while loosing boatloads of money themselves online. To Microsoft, Google is a new kind of threat they need to develop new ways of killing off. Right now they are trying to us tax money to kill a competitor.
Wouldnt this make it perfectly possible for spammers to lock the legitimate owners out of their accounts? How do facebook know what user is the real one?
My take on this is that Microsoft just decided to go for patents extortion instead of license sales. If everyone adopts GPLv3 that would be impossible which is why i think Microsoft works so hard fighting GPLv3.
I really hope this enables Microsoft to start using it internally. Some of the bugs that has popped up recently in their new code just wouldnt have snuck past any serious security effort.
Same goes for the dll loading bug where at least 40 of Microsofts applications had a "programming error". How could 41 of Microsofts applications contain the same serious mistake if they followed SDL?
My view of this is that its all PR. Its not about better security, its about perceived security.
"I'm curious: why do you believe that spacetime cannot bend?"
Well, as you can see im no physics guy, not in any way. First of all, i beleive in the arrow of time. I also dont think you can slow time down. While some processes might slow down because of accumulated energy related to speed, time itself continues its merry way.
I have spent much time reading all sorts of theories about time and the notion that you can slow time down by increasing an objects speed just makes no sense. I have a strong feeling someone will make a major breakthrough as soon as we manage to understand quantum physics, wtf gravity really is and when we understand why exactly some processes slow down with increasing speed. In my mind we are on the brink of knowing what happens around us and if history is any indication nobody has been right all the way, just more right than the rest for the moment.
But as i said, you can regard me as your average late 1300 "the earth is flat" type.
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Every time Linux has been on its way to success on the desktop Microsoft has stepped in and made its life short. Why did Dell despite pretty decent figures refuse to sell their Linux desktops in the open? Why was it only avaliable in a very limited amount of countries? Why did a computer with Linux cost more than one without an OS or FreeDos, or Windows?
Linux was well enroute to gooble the whole netbook market up when suddenly Asus ditched it overnight after hard pressure from Microsoft. Resellers refused to take it in despite good sales figures.
This has nothing to do with Linux in itself. It could be the best OS in the world but it still dont have a chance until the monopoly is broken. The OEMs are held by the balls by Microsoft and nothing will change until that grip is lessened.
Or, the people ruthless enough to screw the right people and lie, steal and cheat their way up to fame and fortune. Zuckerberg did not create a better interface but he did manage to bring more people to his service. The interesting part is HOW he managed to bring people to facebook.
I like the idea of cutting all those Windows boxes off the net. It would be very interesting to see what all those millions of users do once they realize Microsoft has sold them crap that they cant use on the internet because its a steaming pile of security holes. Today most people wont notice their computer have been owned, cutting them off would change that pretty clearly.
TPM etc are just thrown in by Microsoft to use this as a way of cutting non-windows systems.
The way this would better security isnt that the computers are cut off the net. It would work by making Microsofts users start to see clearly the downsides of bad security and start demanding better security from Microsoft instead of todays lipservice. A couple of million users without access to the internet wont accept Microsoft sidestepping the blame with UAC, they will demand them fixing the underlying issues.
"All you have to do to run Flash on a standard iPad is jailbreak it."
Think about that sentence for a while will you?
"Probably because adding Chrome OS to the iPad doesn't add anything."
Maybe, i dont know, Flash?
Consumer demands and what happens in IT are two very different things. People want applications, not an OS. The OS is just like a disk, a memory module or some other mindnumbingly boring thing. As long as it runs your applications, works well and stays the hell out of the way people couldnt care less about what OS they run.
Using Windows is not possible if your goal is to make a computer that just works without loads of management and fuzzing about. Managementwise, it really sucks.
BPOS has had an awful track record when it comes to reliability. I hope they have a backup plan for those days the service is gone. Im also curius about how they will handle the data breach problems? Dont they have a responsibility for keeping stuff private about their citizens? Good luck with that on BPOS.
" If Google doesn't step up now and make a really serious effort to work out deals with all those patent holders, Android as a platform may be in trouble and app developers would suffer."
The problem is, there exists a couple of thousands of exactly similar patents like the ones Microsoft has that are exactly like theirs. Thanks to US patent office you can patent what the heck you want no matter how much prior art exists.
This is just Microsoft realising their platform is doomed and throwing sticks into the wheels of Android. Personally if i was hesitant to WP7 before, now we all know even Microsoft thinks it sucks and will not succeed on its own merits.
I dont know what you have been injecting into your bloodstream but .Net is not something anyone would want to mimic in any way shape or form. It sucks. 1995 called and wanted that Java clone of yours back.
I must be really behind but i can honestly not recall Live Spaces. I have visited exactly 1 blog there and after reading three lines i thought it was some kind of marketing site for Microsoft like gethtefacts or something. Guess the astroturfers be moving to Wordpress soon =)
While Linux arent a magic cure it has been and continue to be well ahead of Windows. Coupled with SELinux i would dare to say its pretty darn secure. If viruses becomes a problem im 100% sure the solution on Linux wont be antivirus as its a flawed and utterly stupid kind of action that does not address the underlying problem.
My fav security OS right now is Chrome, mostly because it regards the user himself a security risk and dont trow an UAC tantrum pushing any security related issue over onto the users shifting the blame away.
The fucking point of the internet is klicking on links. Playing whack a mole with stuff like antivirus, antispam, antiwhatever suggests your operating system is broken. If you have to verify every damn link you could as well just go for chess by physical mail and penpals instead of the internet.
The user uses the internet as intended, the developers, not so much.
Israel and the US are the aggressors here. I fully understand Iran wanting nukes to protect themselves from what has happened to Vietnam, South Korea, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan etc.
Who did protect themselves first? Israel and the US already have striked Iran while Iran has been very laid back. Dont forget either that the US paid Iraq fully for going to war with Iran. The US even fucking providided Iraq with biological weapons to use against Iran.
I fully condone Iran getting nuclear weapons to protect themselves from the US and Israel. However, nothing points to Iran making nuclear weapons at this time. It has been fully debunked and written of just as Iraqs "weapons of mass destructions" that proved to be an utter and outright lie just because the US was aking to go to war with anyone just as long as Pentagon could go to war.
In Sweden hunters have shot dogs, horses, tractors and other strange non-elk looking stuff, not to mention all the people getting killed in hunting related accidents. I knew an old man, still hunting, but he couldnt drive because he couldnt even see the tip of his nose. Crazy people.
Microsoft became the new IBM by being more evil and being even more absent of any morals than even the Nazgul. They managed to trick IBM and that in itself is not an easy feat.
Microsoft was bad from the very first day, they did not suddenly turn into assholes. From the first day when they tricked themselves to Qdos that was an illegal copy of CP/M and sold it before they owned it, they have been nothing about customers and all about making money no matter who gets maimed in the process. Their least important bit of all is the end customer.
The 4 GB barrier was overcome a long time ago on 32 bit systems. The reason people still think its a problem is because Microsoft decided you as a customer shouldnt be able to use more than 4 GB memory on 32-bit since Windows 2000 . The limitations are solely artificial today on Windows 32-bit but linux gladly handle any memory you toss at it.
Excellent article explaining the issue:
http://www.geoffchappell.com/viewer.htm?doc=notes/windows/license/memory.htm
I have also yet to see a benchmark where 64-bit in itself gives significant advantage outside large calculations an simulations.
In any case where there has been something to fix, Google has stepped up to the plate and done the right thing. I cant really draw to memory Microsoft doing this even
once.
As for Microsofts complaints, there arent any substance. You have whiny complaints about failed SEO, that Google spiders wont index flash, broken sites not being indexed properly and linkfarms not going to teh moon. We have yet to see a legit complaint and that should tell us something about just how paranoid Google are about giving everyone a fair chance. Microsoft has vacuumed the world for bad ranking pages and all they can find is those crappy sites?
If you translate Microsofts complaints you hear a five year old boy telling his mom he got whacked up by the girl next door when she just beat him at running fast.
Are you drunk?
Groklaw has proven to be very accurate and true, especially for anyone that has followed the site since the beginning of the SCO fraud. If there is one site on the net that i trust 100% its Groklaw, because they have earned my trust by telling the truth all along. When someone says something for years and is proven right and true again and again and again, they deserve your trust.
And best of all, even if Groklaw would be biased they always provide ample links for anyone to build their own opinion.
"I note with interest that Google seems to have developed a template defense when it's caught out."
Well, thats because EVERY complaint has had Microsoft behind it being the driving force.
Microsoft has without a doubt failed to compete with Google using their old tactics of smear, illegal bundling and OEM pressure. Despite oodles of money wasted Microsoft hasnt managed to put even a dent in Googles revenues or market share while loosing boatloads of money themselves online. To Microsoft, Google is a new kind of threat they need to develop new ways of killing off. Right now they are trying to us tax money to kill a competitor.
Wouldnt this make it perfectly possible for spammers to lock the legitimate owners out of their accounts? How do facebook know what user is the real one?
Sounds like a very stupid move.
My take on this is that Microsoft just decided to go for patents extortion instead of license sales. If everyone adopts GPLv3 that would be impossible which is why i think Microsoft works so hard fighting GPLv3.
There are lots of countries more than willing to fund research like this.
I really hope this enables Microsoft to start using it internally. Some of the bugs that has popped up recently in their new code just wouldnt have snuck past any serious security effort.
Same goes for the dll loading bug where at least 40 of Microsofts applications had a "programming error". How could 41 of Microsofts applications contain the same serious mistake if they followed SDL?
My view of this is that its all PR. Its not about better security, its about perceived security.
Juniper has "device-dead" actually if thats close enough.
"I'm curious: why do you believe that spacetime cannot bend?"
Well, as you can see im no physics guy, not in any way. First of all, i beleive in the arrow of time. I also dont think you can slow time down. While some processes might slow down because of accumulated energy related to speed, time itself continues its merry way.
I have spent much time reading all sorts of theories about time and the notion that you can slow time down by increasing an objects speed just makes no sense. I have a strong feeling someone will make a major breakthrough as soon as we manage to understand quantum physics, wtf gravity really is and when we understand why exactly some processes slow down with increasing speed. In my mind we are on the brink of knowing what happens around us and if history is any indication nobody has been right all the way, just more right than the rest for the moment.
But as i said, you can regard me as your average late 1300 "the earth is flat" type.