The problem with apps like quick books is they have become the standard. So people are leery about switching (it's the monkey see monkey do attitude). Plus, while the lack of warranty or fitness of merchantability may not be bothersome for some software, payrolling is important. Most CEOs won't like hearing that their books are being balanced in software not guaranteed to work.
Rulings can always be appealed. However, it's important to note that most appeals are rejected. Judges consider it embarrassing to have their rulings overturned. So it is likely that this ruling is here to stay.
Isn't really needed by most people. Most people only use the net for email and some shopping. Paying $40 - $50 a month so your email gets sent a lot faster isn't very cost effective. Course us geeks like it, but we're the minority.
I disagree. Using Vonage and a cable modem I get a better deal on phone service then anybody I know. Sometime in the future everyone will get to the point where companies will find it worthwhile to roll out similar things -- which use broadband and make the 'Net just another utility -- like electricity. (Yes I saw those IBM ads a few years ago).
But this isn't even discussing the benefit of being able to have multiple people on the net at the same time -- or even what you save over a dedicated phone line. If you want several people online at the same time, or want service without tying up your phone line, you're either looking at upwards of $30 a month for each extra phone line and upwards of $20 per ISP. (No, AOL doesn't let you sign on under two screen names at the same time). So, yeh, for some of us it is worth it.
I was starting to think last night and realized the only reason I do HAVE to use windows at work is so that I can use Exchange (calendar) and get virus scanned 3 times a day from the Helldesk.
I've chatted to other Mac (being one myself) users and most would be more than happy to move to Linux/x86 without any hesitation, however, they need the likes of Photoshop, Studio MX, Quark etc etc for their day-to-day work.
Although I agree that some form of compensation should have been agreed upon up front, there still may be room to get something from your exemployer.
Call them up and say that you understand the reasons you were let go, but you were hoping you could count on your boss for an excellent recommendation when you interview at ________. (Or somebody calls to ask for somebody in general).
If they balk remind them that you were such a valued employer that you were called up long after you were fired to help the company - and you were more then happy to help without charging $500 an hour.
(Do all of this tactfully. I sound like an ass.)
If this gets you another job then it was worth helping out your old company.
The company I work for makes extensive use of interns. In exchange for the experience, a good reference, and minimum wage there isn't too much you can't get an intern a semester or two away from graduation to do.
The trick is to make sure everything is documented and backed up. I.e. make sure you've got an extra copy of the software stashed somewhere the interns can't irrevocable change it, and make them test out all their solutions on an old server before letting them install it on the IMPORTANT server.
The other thing to take into account is how much you're actually going to need to change things. I know people who run a stable Windows ME because they just use Internet Explorer and the Microsoft Works suite that came with it.
If you're going to have this search engine around for 10 years it doesn't sound like there are going to be too many changes made - otherwise we wouldn't even be having this discussion. And that means you may not even need that overpriced corporate support.
Look. To put it bluntly it's very hard to figure out exactly which one will be better. That's because you don't know exactly how it will be used. But as other posters have pointed out - there's no chance of a company going bankrupt, and completely losing your product if you have the code.
The risks in using open source software are the rewards. Now, I doubt that IBM will dissapear anytime soon - but it's concievable Micro$oft could completely subjugate them.
At least with Open Source you know for a fact that in 10 years if your client still wants to run the same search engine but on the newest hardware or OS you can hire an intern to change the code. Cause over 10 years you're going to upgrade SOMETHING, and you have no idea what that new hardware will do with your old commercial app.
Get your hands on a 10 year old computer program - circa MSDOS - and try running it on a modern computer. If you don't get any kind of error running it there's a good chance it's going to do some crazy things - run insanely fast (not in a good way - think of speeding up a record), give you wierd colors, do something it shouldn't.
Then get your hands on 10 year old code. If you compile it it'll probably do the same thing as a 10 year old program. But at least you can change it around and get it running up to spec with modern hardware.
Throw in the money the school kicks back to micro$oft, and the money that micro$oft saves in printing manuals, burning CDs, and distributing it. Then make sure to take out the money that Best Buy keeps when you buy your copy there.
In the end Micro$oft doesn't lose that much money. At the University of Buffalo every semster I pay enough to buy a brand spanking new - and completely pimped out - box in technology fees. I also get everything Micro$oft for free. But when I go to the computer lab I almost never can find a free computer.
Now I know for a fact that there should be enough money to buy 2 computers per student on campus per year. And I've been paying these fees for 4 years.
Where is my money going? Could it be that programs such as Micro$soft Office aren't as free as they seem?
Well, that, plus another couple billion in the R&D to actually develop it, but hey, we can't count that, right?
You know I used to think the money I forked over for each new version of M$ Office was worthwhile.
Then I switched to Linux and realized that:
a) I've been paying for a lot of extra features I never use and have never seen before - or every new version of Office comes with enough pretty window dressing to fool the layman.
b) OpenOffice accomplished in a short amount of time what microsoft has been hacking away at for something like 10 years. (I may not have the dates right, corrections are welcome)
c) Microsoft is a waste of money.
-Dan
... does it make the average person want to choose them as their ISP?
Think of it this way. The population of New York City is so dense that for every building the butterflies are zooming by, they pass tens of thousands of people - even if they may not all see the butterflies.
Even if Micro$oft gets 1 new customer per 100,000 it assaults with advertising, in NYC this ad campaign will pay for itself - even if the "butterflies" aren't interns working for nothing - because every new customer doesn't just plunk down $20 (or whatever MSN costs) a month, but $20 x 12 months = $240 a year - which they will continue paying until AOL interns dress up like something interesting and go rollerblading down the streets of NYC.
I'd also like to point out - by way of example - Micro$oft isn't exactly being punished. At my school - SUNY Buffalo - chalk is an often used advertising tool for student organizations. When an organization uses it to advertise, the corridors and pathways will be covered in messages. You can't miss them.
The official policy of the school is to turn on a hose and get rid of all chalk drawings. But while any Gay and Lesbian Pride (or other "offensive") drawings scrawled on the sidewalks and walls under cover of darkness will be hosed off by 9am, Proschool chalk drawings (homecoming rallies, fundraisers, etc) will be hosed off by 9pm that night.
My point is that while NYC may publicly chastize Micro$oft, they could have done a lot more if they really wanted to. Maybe this is because Micro$oft spends so much money in NYC, or maybe the Commissioner is just a nice guy. But just because Micro$oft broke the law and is paying a $50 fine doesn't mean all that much. In fact, if just 1 moron likes the morons (erm, butterflies) enough to sign up, I would bet money Micro$oft has made it's money back.
The good news is that when companies like IBM advertise Linux this way, they probably get encouraged to do it again as well. (at least it's good for every other Linux Junkie in the audience) =)
-Dan
___________
"Never let your schooling interfere with your education."
Mark Twain
Slashdot Mirror
The problem with apps like quick books is they have become the standard. So people are leery about switching (it's the monkey see monkey do attitude). Plus, while the lack of warranty or fitness of merchantability may not be bothersome for some software, payrolling is important. Most CEOs won't like hearing that their books are being balanced in software not guaranteed to work.
Rulings can always be appealed. However, it's important to note that most appeals are rejected. Judges consider it embarrassing to have their rulings overturned. So it is likely that this ruling is here to stay.
I disagree. Using Vonage and a cable modem I get a better deal on phone service then anybody I know. Sometime in the future everyone will get to the point where companies will find it worthwhile to roll out similar things -- which use broadband and make the 'Net just another utility -- like electricity. (Yes I saw those IBM ads a few years ago).
But this isn't even discussing the benefit of being able to have multiple people on the net at the same time -- or even what you save over a dedicated phone line. If you want several people online at the same time, or want service without tying up your phone line, you're either looking at upwards of $30 a month for each extra phone line and upwards of $20 per ISP. (No, AOL doesn't let you sign on under two screen names at the same time). So, yeh, for some of us it is worth it.
Buy a copy of Ximian's connector for MS Exchange and you won't even need MS for that.
You really should check out the Mandrake Linux 9.1. Power PC Distribution. It includes support to run Mac Applications on Linux in an X Window at Native Speed.. It's called Mac on Linux and would let you get the big name support you so desire while running Linux on a Mac.
Although I agree that some form of compensation should have been agreed upon up front, there still may be room to get something from your exemployer.
Call them up and say that you understand the reasons you were let go, but you were hoping you could count on your boss for an excellent recommendation when you interview at ________. (Or somebody calls to ask for somebody in general).
If they balk remind them that you were such a valued employer that you were called up long after you were fired to help the company - and you were more then happy to help without charging $500 an hour.
(Do all of this tactfully. I sound like an ass.)
If this gets you another job then it was worth helping out your old company.
-Dan
Yes. But the social benefits of the removal of the jack asses who would buy such things from the gene pool is priceless. -Dan
The company I work for makes extensive use of interns. In exchange for the experience, a good reference, and minimum wage there isn't too much you can't get an intern a semester or two away from graduation to do.
The trick is to make sure everything is documented and backed up. I.e. make sure you've got an extra copy of the software stashed somewhere the interns can't irrevocable change it, and make them test out all their solutions on an old server before letting them install it on the IMPORTANT server.
The other thing to take into account is how much you're actually going to need to change things. I know people who run a stable Windows ME because they just use Internet Explorer and the Microsoft Works suite that came with it.
If you're going to have this search engine around for 10 years it doesn't sound like there are going to be too many changes made - otherwise we wouldn't even be having this discussion. And that means you may not even need that overpriced corporate support.
Look. To put it bluntly it's very hard to figure out exactly which one will be better. That's because you don't know exactly how it will be used. But as other posters have pointed out - there's no chance of a company going bankrupt, and completely losing your product if you have the code.
The risks in using open source software are the rewards. Now, I doubt that IBM will dissapear anytime soon - but it's concievable Micro$oft could completely subjugate them.
At least with Open Source you know for a fact that in 10 years if your client still wants to run the same search engine but on the newest hardware or OS you can hire an intern to change the code. Cause over 10 years you're going to upgrade SOMETHING, and you have no idea what that new hardware will do with your old commercial app.
Get your hands on a 10 year old computer program - circa MSDOS - and try running it on a modern computer. If you don't get any kind of error running it there's a good chance it's going to do some crazy things - run insanely fast (not in a good way - think of speeding up a record), give you wierd colors, do something it shouldn't.
Then get your hands on 10 year old code. If you compile it it'll probably do the same thing as a 10 year old program. But at least you can change it around and get it running up to spec with modern hardware.
-Dan
Throw in the money the school kicks back to micro$oft, and the money that micro$oft saves in printing manuals, burning CDs, and distributing it. Then make sure to take out the money that Best Buy keeps when you buy your copy there.
In the end Micro$oft doesn't lose that much money. At the University of Buffalo every semster I pay enough to buy a brand spanking new - and completely pimped out - box in technology fees. I also get everything Micro$oft for free. But when I go to the computer lab I almost never can find a free computer.
Now I know for a fact that there should be enough money to buy 2 computers per student on campus per year. And I've been paying these fees for 4 years.
Where is my money going? Could it be that programs such as Micro$soft Office aren't as free as they seem?
Could be.
-Dan
... does it make the average person want to choose them as their ISP? Think of it this way. The population of New York City is so dense that for every building the butterflies are zooming by, they pass tens of thousands of people - even if they may not all see the butterflies. Even if Micro$oft gets 1 new customer per 100,000 it assaults with advertising, in NYC this ad campaign will pay for itself - even if the "butterflies" aren't interns working for nothing - because every new customer doesn't just plunk down $20 (or whatever MSN costs) a month, but $20 x 12 months = $240 a year - which they will continue paying until AOL interns dress up like something interesting and go rollerblading down the streets of NYC. I'd also like to point out - by way of example - Micro$oft isn't exactly being punished. At my school - SUNY Buffalo - chalk is an often used advertising tool for student organizations. When an organization uses it to advertise, the corridors and pathways will be covered in messages. You can't miss them. The official policy of the school is to turn on a hose and get rid of all chalk drawings. But while any Gay and Lesbian Pride (or other "offensive") drawings scrawled on the sidewalks and walls under cover of darkness will be hosed off by 9am, Proschool chalk drawings (homecoming rallies, fundraisers, etc) will be hosed off by 9pm that night. My point is that while NYC may publicly chastize Micro$oft, they could have done a lot more if they really wanted to. Maybe this is because Micro$oft spends so much money in NYC, or maybe the Commissioner is just a nice guy. But just because Micro$oft broke the law and is paying a $50 fine doesn't mean all that much. In fact, if just 1 moron likes the morons (erm, butterflies) enough to sign up, I would bet money Micro$oft has made it's money back. The good news is that when companies like IBM advertise Linux this way, they probably get encouraged to do it again as well. (at least it's good for every other Linux Junkie in the audience) =) -Dan ___________ "Never let your schooling interfere with your education." Mark Twain