I concur with this, but as a basis it's probably not a good idea.
In immediate retrospect, I'll grant the expense problem, especially in computers, where "shelf life" tends to revolve right around ten minutes for any given thing.
Your management's decision on this is extremely confusing. If above and beyond this there are still issues, one is best advised not to use software that they are concerned about, and make sure one reviews any TOU documents with a fine toothed comb belonging to an attorney.
(Note: I don't fully understand programming, so this could be uninformed.)
Yes, I agree that it's wrong to block somebody out. But having said that, perhaps installing straight *nix would do some good.
No, really. If one learned how to code *without* the heavy reliance on many of the closed API's that make Windows what it is? I'm talking something entirely unheard of in this day and age: not necessarily bare-metal programming (which again limits, but now due to the platform), but starting by building in such a way that portability becomes largely...well, modular.
Mod me down if you will - this is after all an uneducated thought off the top of my head. But perhaps in the end this might prove beneficial in a sort of roundabout way.
Freedom of speech though will only extend to where it does not impigne (Sp?) on others' freedoms. As such, there are no other laws that, IMHO, would be covered by this, except possibly free trade - but then again, you are free to not buy from a telemarketroid. So yes, this law would be constitutional IMO.
Of all the things that people thought would die out with the Latest In Film Technology, 35mm film still enjoys wide popularity and has been around since the 1930s. Extremely versatile that - everyone from pros shooting models with their $3000 SLR to Fred Bloggs getting the picture of his family eating dinner with his cheap $10 knock-off camera. Easily can be said to survive the Next Best Thing in ease of use anyway you look at it - 126 was recently discontinued, "disc" cameras don't exist anymore, and 110 is all but on its way out - and even APS cameras seem to be broken as designed, not allowing much in leeway for anyone beyond your home user..
There used to be something called "Killer Shake" here in CA. It even gave fun instructions: "Shake till you can shake no more, then SCARF IT DOWN!" It was more or less billed to the hip quasi-surfer community.
Oh, I forgot to mention just what the stuff was, just like the raging cow site did. It was an ultra-pasteurized flavored milk product. Came in flavors like "gnarly" chocolate (or something crazy like that), and similar naming schemes with their pina-colada and strawberry flavor.
I kind of liked it, they actually didn't taste too bad. But, it died. (They were 150% of the price of a pint of Nestle's Quik.) Why? No (reasonable) advertising. Maybe it was the lack of blogs back in the late 80s to the early 90s when the stuff existed.
Two are first person accounts, one is from a friend who watched this happen.
First account: A few years ago I stepped on my Casio SF-M10. (This was an organizer whose Neat Feature(TM) was a small version of Lucid 3D's spreadhseet.) Naturally, this cracked teh LCD screen, requiring a repair job. Miraculously, the data was not wiped, and worked great up until late last year when the heat seals on the screen needed replacement. Instead I replaced it with a Hadnspring Visor Deluxe.
Second account: while rooting around on my box here at home, I accidentally touched a screwdriver to the internal connector of an AHA-1542 SCSI adaptor. There was a "Zzzt!", a bit of smoke, and the power supply breaker tripped. Strangely, the machine powered back up just fine after I unplugged and replugged the power cord from the surge strip.
Third account: a friend of mine had witnessed a particular compact 286 computer whose selling point was that you could abuse the hell out of this thing and it would still work. During demos, the rep would pick the unit up and hurl it across the room against a wall completely at random. He'd pick it up and it would still be cranking along as fast as a 286 possibly could. That was until one day it stopped functioning. A support call could make nothing of it, but later on, to shorten the story, they had remembered that inducing shock to a battery powered unit could cause the batteries to discharge a significant amount of energy. They accordingly replaced the batteries.
In short, I'm *still* amazed that computer hardware can take such abuses.
Your email address is public much as your snail address is public. It is a means to deliver something to a specific location.
And it is as public as you, the holder of said address, make it. If you want people to contact you, you stick it in a website. If you don't want people contacting you, you don't use it anywhere, just keep it out of the public eye.
And if the Chinese government violate the NDA? I mean, how do you suggest Microsoft retaliates? They don't have the means to go to war, and a corporation cannot incite war without making their congresscritter look more foolish than s/he already is, let alone damage their reputation.
The only option I see is that Microsoft would withdraw themselves from China, warts and all - leaving them wide open for other alternatives, be they BSD, Linux, Be, Mac, Etc., Etc., whatever.
In short, perhaps by doing this MicroSoft had dealt China their own trump card.
But, as Dennis Miller says, "But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."
Slashdot Mirror
In immediate retrospect, I'll grant the expense problem, especially in computers, where "shelf life" tends to revolve right around ten minutes for any given thing.
On these grounds, I would propose that VMS be reinstated as the standard big iron system, and OS/2 be revived.
IANAL.
I would've thought the answer was simple in that the GPL states that you can't do this - there is, in short, no copyright issue under the GPL.
As far as trademarks is concerned, some of us may remember William Della Croce, a Boston attorney who attempted to enforce trademark on Linux in 1996. Last I recall, the TM was overturned.
Your management's decision on this is extremely confusing. If above and beyond this there are still issues, one is best advised not to use software that they are concerned about, and make sure one reviews any TOU documents with a fine toothed comb belonging to an attorney.
Hmm... at $12.60, that's an awful lot of stock in this energy company called Enron I heard was just starting to make it.
Oh boy! Now I can buy socks!
But there's already an alien religion. It's called Scientology.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these things!
Yes, I agree that it's wrong to block somebody out. But having said that, perhaps installing straight *nix would do some good.
No, really. If one learned how to code *without* the heavy reliance on many of the closed API's that make Windows what it is? I'm talking something entirely unheard of in this day and age: not necessarily bare-metal programming (which again limits, but now due to the platform), but starting by building in such a way that portability becomes largely...well, modular.
Mod me down if you will - this is after all an uneducated thought off the top of my head. But perhaps in the end this might prove beneficial in a sort of roundabout way.
Does this mean that Vash The Stampede is now part of the donut, and therefor has achieved a zen state?
If I get ONE MORE CALL about people asking me about George Wendt, eating beans, and movies, I'm gonna scream!
There is a space in the "index" portion of the URL, but easily correctable. Mod this one up informative!
Freedom of speech though will only extend to where it does not impigne (Sp?) on others' freedoms. As such, there are no other laws that, IMHO, would be covered by this, except possibly free trade - but then again, you are free to not buy from a telemarketroid. So yes, this law would be constitutional IMO.
Those aren't necessarily default passwords.
Imminent death of the net predicted!
The little system that tried to this day is enjoying a life in obscurity despite the fact that everyone says it's dead.
(Source: Rich Hall, "Sniglets". Click here for more details.)
Or, "In soviet russia, core error (parse dumped)"! Or is that core parse, error dumped, or...
Oh, I forgot to mention just what the stuff was, just like the raging cow site did. It was an ultra-pasteurized flavored milk product. Came in flavors like "gnarly" chocolate (or something crazy like that), and similar naming schemes with their pina-colada and strawberry flavor.
I kind of liked it, they actually didn't taste too bad. But, it died. (They were 150% of the price of a pint of Nestle's Quik.) Why? No (reasonable) advertising. Maybe it was the lack of blogs back in the late 80s to the early 90s when the stuff existed.
You Dr. Pepper whore! *hides a case or three of the stuff behind his desk*
First account: A few years ago I stepped on my Casio SF-M10. (This was an organizer whose Neat Feature(TM) was a small version of Lucid 3D's spreadhseet.) Naturally, this cracked teh LCD screen, requiring a repair job. Miraculously, the data was not wiped, and worked great up until late last year when the heat seals on the screen needed replacement. Instead I replaced it with a Hadnspring Visor Deluxe.
Second account: while rooting around on my box here at home, I accidentally touched a screwdriver to the internal connector of an AHA-1542 SCSI adaptor. There was a "Zzzt!", a bit of smoke, and the power supply breaker tripped. Strangely, the machine powered back up just fine after I unplugged and replugged the power cord from the surge strip.
Third account: a friend of mine had witnessed a particular compact 286 computer whose selling point was that you could abuse the hell out of this thing and it would still work. During demos, the rep would pick the unit up and hurl it across the room against a wall completely at random. He'd pick it up and it would still be cranking along as fast as a 286 possibly could. That was until one day it stopped functioning. A support call could make nothing of it, but later on, to shorten the story, they had remembered that inducing shock to a battery powered unit could cause the batteries to discharge a significant amount of energy. They accordingly replaced the batteries.
In short, I'm *still* amazed that computer hardware can take such abuses.
And it is as public as you, the holder of said address, make it. If you want people to contact you, you stick it in a website. If you don't want people contacting you, you don't use it anywhere, just keep it out of the public eye.
The simpler method is still SMTPAUTH. Now we just have to convince the world that this is a Good Thing.
What does this have to do with the price of Windows in China?
The only option I see is that Microsoft would withdraw themselves from China, warts and all - leaving them wide open for other alternatives, be they BSD, Linux, Be, Mac, Etc., Etc., whatever.
In short, perhaps by doing this MicroSoft had dealt China their own trump card.
But, as Dennis Miller says, "But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."