Yet the fact remains that OSS is now officially deemed a competitive threat to the MS empire. Combine that with a few other facts: 1) that MS still doesn't know how to combat that threat and while the wet-noodle-slap legal ruling was a travesty of justice it'll still deter MS from using their most underhanded arsenal of tactics, and 2) Microsoft's financial pyramid scheme depends on ever-increasing profits and a reversal will result in all kinds of additional expenses compared to their past mode of operation.
However the OSS community, despite being the ideal builders of level playing fields, are still far from having significant (let alone equal or over-riding) influence in the areas where MS holds their most valuable monopolies. Giving Microsoft's obscene profits ever so slightly bigger squeeze is just a minor symptom stemming from the battle over the control (or freedom) of crucially important standards, protocols and file formats. If competition is to work, that's where it really happens, not on Microsoft's product price tags.
The dotNET thingy is where MS plans to create their next complete set of standards to obsolete those caught up by the OSS community so expect some semi-serious revamping of their Licensing 6.0 in the months ahead. But don't expect to see OSS mentioned anywhere in those announcements; it'll all be due to this great innovating company gracefully catering for their valued customers' needs and wishes and "giving them what they ask for"...
It'll be interesting to see whether that can slow the adoption of OSS by any noticeable degree. I'm afraid (read: convinced) that Microsoft's hardballs are finally heading back home to roost.
Sorry for the unfunny joke; I actually kept up with GNUstep until a couple of years ago, always wishing the project well.
I know they've made progress since Apple finally started pushing the faithful towards the *step/yellowbox/Cocoa apps and it'd be great to have those apps available under GNUstep/Linux as well.
But I'd still prefer Gnome as the frontend for all this natural goodness.
Hell, the display I was talking about was just announced a couple of days ago so I demand some slack!:^)
Umm, the ADC (Apple-only) -> DVI (generic) adapter is only good for relatively recent Macheads who want to use commodity flatpanels.
Anyways, after having another look I found Apple selling a DVI -> ADC adapter for US$99.
All things considered that's not too much extra to pay for an added inconvenience - althought it also encourages Apple to keep to its proprietary ways - but now I (the potential outside-Apple-market customer, my Macs are pre-ADC) must somehow ensure that this extraneous adapter doesn't cause any added complications under X-windows. Not that I'd expect any from a straight digital conversion but I've learned to be cautious over the years.
PS. The new 20" Apple flatpanels are actually just $1299 instead of the 2k you're talking about... Is that an acceptable excuse for my lack of research?:^)
You'll still need decent hardware (128MB, >300Mhz) to fully appreciate Nautilus, but the same can be said about running Mac OS X.
Gnome is the closest living relative to NeXT/OpenStep or OS/2 Warp which both were truly wonderful environments but steamrolled into obscurity by the MS monopoly. Gnome and Linux are GPL'd so they can't be steamrolled off the market!
Gnome's the choice for a poor man since it runs on the commodity-priced x86 platform. Mac OS X is good value on Apple's reasonably-priced 'Books though.
Gnome's the choice for a free man since it allows the user to decide when to upgrade (and do it for free if desired) and on which iron to run it. Mac OS X, while nice, leaves the user at the mercy of Apple's whims. I talk from experience; Mac OS X won't run on my (back then) expensive PowerMac despite Apple's promises at the time.
Under Gnome-on-Linux users can run practically any type of apps, including classic Mac apps under Mac-on-Linux or Windows apps under WINE (only recommended as last resort IMO, won't work under PowerPC yet). Some KDE apps are truly great and they also run natively (it's all about the LIBS, not the windowmanager...). X, Java, console, emulators... it's all available.
PS. I'd buy one of those new 20" Apple displays if they came with a standard interface (namely DVI) instead of the proprietary ADC. I still want to see them around *innovating*, but not on their terms and at my expense...
While I've so far managed to avoid PDAs these Zaurus guys are making it increasingly difficult to avoid the temptation.
At $700 the SL-C700 is really targeted for productivity applications, besides the usual organizer functions, but once their price drops to around $500 and they get the ability to stream broadcast quality video or TV (which I control remotely through a wireless IEEE 802.11 connection to my desktop doubling as DVR) and to (dis)play video CD/DVD discs through USB2 or Firewire-connected portable player I'm out of excuses.
Now that's the kind of remote Linux terminal I could do with.
Whoever modded Raetsel's post as a troll must be on funny mushrooms or something. Then again astroturfing seems to be on the rise again and Slashdot is certainly a strategic target...
If there was no existing threat to MS monopoly from budding Open Source alternatives MS could, as in the past, simply ignore the demand for alternative language versions safe in the knowledge that they have that market cornered anyway.
Now, according to BBC the number of Nynorsk speakers is estimated at mere 400,000, but OTOH scandinavians are more likely to actually pay (and high prices at that) for their software and getting kids hooked already at school is an opportunity MS can't afford to pass unchallenged.
But does this Nynorsk language organization actually wield any power what comes to the schools' purchasing decisions?
And has anyone told them that they could actually help themselves by having local people translate OpenOffice.org (isn't getting people involved in the Nynorsk language their objective?) and save money in the process?
Finally, this news is only about MS-Office getting translated. What about other MS-ware, let alone all the other proprietary software available in that market? Wouldn't this be an area where local Linux distros, perhaps together with educational institutions, could provide services tailored exactly for particular language markets?
Is it just that most people here probably grew (or are in the process of growing) up under the gentle shadow of the RIAA, but no one seems to have noticed the *glaring* highlighting error in the editorial sentence "With the way the RIAA and some artists *cough*Garth Brooks*cough* have labeled..."
Do I need to cough it up for you? For RIAA's sake...!
With the way the RIAA and some *cough*artists*cough* Garth Brooks have labeled these..."
The only secure way to use the verification tool is to boot from a readonly media and run the tool from there.
This would be a useful feature addition to the rescue mode of boot CDs.
Security could/should be made more newbie-friendly.
Another thing is that with *free* platforms the distro-builders need to earn their living from services rendered, and security is as good a service as anything. With internet access being in the core of everything, couldn't the distro companies also provide optional integrity checking service over a secure connection? I could envision a write-once space for uploaded checksums against all installed packages...
Of course, once distros start creating such remote personal customer services the door opens for a host of new support and service packages (built-in webhosting etc., anyone?). Credible distro makers would probably benefit from their reputation at the expense of fly-by-night operators.
Oh come on. The key point in the settlement was a standardized price sheet for Windows OEM licences.
That means no more MS Office and Encarta 'favors' demanded from the OEMs.
Does the court's amnes..., I mean settlement ruling also apply outside the court's jurisdiction, i.e. outside US territories? Or is M$ allowed to price their warez differently in different EU states, let alone elsewhere in the world?
Considering how unwilling the conservative pro- big business judicial system was to apply even most toothless remedies I would be extremely surprised if any restrictions whatsoever were placed on the home-grown global monopolist's foreign operations.
Yes, Corel, the weather vane of IT industry (just follow the opposite direction).
Price comes first, and Corel is valued at cash value, if not even lower. They've got loads of software, WP Office (which luckily wasn't rebranded Corel XXXX to even destroy the brand too), CorelDraw, Micrografx line, Softquad line (HoTMetaL etc.) and who knows what else. And thanks to Corel they're all essentially valued at NIL. Use what is useful and spit out the rest for sale (most of which might even have a chance of success once out of Corel's clueless fingers) or open-sourcing.
Although Corel have tried their best to become totally irrelevant, they still continue to release PR that some journos read, or at least re-circulate. Currently that muscular PR machine is churning out, you guessed it, Micorsoft PR and their employees probably get fired just for mentioning Linux. Problem easily solved by Sun.
Sun knows how to sue monopolists instead of giving them discounted shares and even working for them for free (yes, you guessed who). If Java is worth $billion + damages, what about WordPerfect which was pummelled out of all channels (esp. preloads) by MS. Isn't MS-Office micorsoft's most valuable cash cow? Hit 'em where it hurts most.
And StarOffice... I'm sure there's something worth scavenging in WP Office that would benefit StarOffice. At least WP engineers used to be good at reverse-engineering MS-word filters. Migrating their remaining users out of micorsoft's sphere of influence would also be useful, as would phasing out the MS-windows-based no-revenue preloads that some OEMs use to avoid the full force of MS tax.
Exactly. They couldn't take control of OpenDoc so after decent time after its funeral they now feel free to try and reinvent it in their typical MS-proprietary style. Sorry, I meant "innovate".
PS. This "longdick" (by "microsoft"? LOL) stuff is very unlikely to come out until 2006, or 2005 at earliest. By then their usual bullying tactics may not be as effective as in the last decade. Goodluckium, Obladidium... You'll be born Obsoletium!
MS has *always* relied on rumour-mongering (sic) to have others (read: the ms-centric press) to do the FUDding for them. I see there are still takers...
I just love it when some financial analyst (the infamous Enderle) gives out a quote like "[microsoft's longhorn] will almost completely prevent the platform from being compromised." while having no qualms about the proprietary hardware platform being owned exclusively by a corporation that has been convicted of having abused their computer desktop monopoly(ies). That's U.S. of A. for ya, folks.
I wonder what the previous holders of the Proprietary Hardware Crown, Apple, think about these acts by the microsoft corporation.
Public support for FreeDOS would provide relief in the short term, but Linux is capable of doing it too.
Heck, Gigabyte has a Microsoft® Windows-only(TM) tool that updates the BIOS on their latest motherboards over the internet! (that's Google's html translation of Gigabyte's pfd file)
Some Linux developers have already been dabbling with such a "hardware update" (aka BIOS flasher) tool but perhaps there should be a concerted effort to build a development kit that the OEMs would find simple to tailor for their purposes. Opening direct hardware access under Microsoft® Windows(TM) over the internet sounds like the thing for gonzos to do, but at least under Linux it could be done relatively securely and by root only.
Instead of all the jumping-through-hoops to build a bootable DOS floppy etc., why aren't the hardware manufacturers starting to build Linux-based tools?
The GPL'd FreeDOS project deserves kudos for providing legacy support alright, but Linux also provides additional reliability (no lockups during BIOS flashing...), choices between CLI or various GUIs, continued cutting-edge development of the environment with support for USB, FireWire or whatever media peripherals might be available and even support for hardware platforms other than x86 (e.g. Mac peripherals have BIOSes as well), to mention some advantages off the top of my head.
Since hardware manufacturers can't continue relying on DOS much longer now that MS is pulling the plug, the obvious choice for boot-time tools is really the freely-distributable Linux. It would be a tragedy for everyone but Microsoft if Windows became the successor of DOS as the *required* hardware maintenance platform.
> Funny thing about Free software. You *can't* kill it.
Wrong. That's what software patents are for.
Actually, that would only work in the U.S. or whatever satellite states they can bribe and/or threaten into submission.
As long as there's one tiny speck on the map where people are allowed to share intellectual property unhindered, or enough civil courage within the intellectually suppressed nations, Free software will continue to be developed. And that's the doomsday scenario. As things stand, the number of countries finding OSS advantageous is only just starting to really take off, and we all know how the network effect works!
I've been wondering why Nokia doesn't "do microsoft" and join the OSS community (I mean in full force instead of the toe-tipping), IBM, Sun et al in undercutting the exact Microsoft powerbases that they use to extend their monopoly so effectively. Those monopolistic horns-of-plenty are of course Office and the Windows OSes. Those two - Office and OS - are the only weapons that can truly force MS into the compromising (aka negotiating) table.
First the OS: If Nokia were to throw their full force around to endorse Linux within EU and elsewhere in the world (U.S. exempted, since there the MS monopoly is now sanctioned by the republican regime), the effect would be significant. Everybody knows and trusts Nokia, and there's a fair amount of gadgetry out there under their label besides just mobile phones. Computers, set-top boxes and PDAs are also "communicators" of sort and thereby within the territory Nokia must be in to remain relevant ad infinitum.
Undercutting Microsoft's Office revenue just makes so much sense that it hurts. Here Nokia ought to endorse OpenOffice and StarOffice and using their massice channel access they could easily help add a few crucial percentage points to OOo's userbase. And if they were really serious they could even buy out the MS lackey's Corel at near cash value and redirect their WordPerfect Office resources towards OOo/StarOffice development. That'd be worth at least some 10 markershare points if aggressively executed. Moving Corel's XML-based strategy (dynamic data delivery to any device, including mobile devices) away from.NET and towards OSS-compatible open standards would give MS another double-blow, and porting their graphics apps line-up to Linux would complete that turnaround. For a relatively small investment Nokia could deliver a huge blow to Microsoft's revenue stream and thereby to their ability to continue to use the MSFT stock in the pyramidesque scam as before.
As a succesful and reliable hardware vendor Nokia can and should take Microsoft head on, because Microsoft has been trying to do just that to Nokia (and everybody else who matters) already.
Time for Linux-based boot-time utilities at last?
on
MS-DOS 1981-2002 RIP
·
· Score: 2
I'm talking about those little DOS proggies that vendors still put out on their support sites along with instructions on how to build a MS-DOS boot floppy for upgrading buggy ROMs and such.
With MS-DOS' official funeral finally looming close, wouldn't it make a lot of sense for the hardware vendors to port their utilities to Linux? I mean, Linux offers free floppy-sized bootability, good choice of development tools (incl. compact crossplatform GUIs) and the potential for using one kit for maintaining hardware on platforms other than x86 PCs (Macs, PDAs...).
The *freedom* of Linux would also allow vendors to offer pre-built floppy or CD-ROM.iso packages instead the requiring MS-DOS "ownership" or fiddling with arcane building instructions. For FIES (Free In Every Sense) and without branding restrictions too.
Are there any reasons why Linux shouldn't succeed MS-DOS as the universal boot-time tools platform? Or will FreeDOS now rise to unprecedented dominance? And what does Microsoft have in store to maintain their monopoly of this small but quite important (it's about controlling booting after all!) niche?
... to attract cute flightless chix into your shiny nest.
But that opportunity comes at a heavy price, not even getting into dollar figures: how many of us are used to changing our outlook (and I mean WYSIWYG through your actual windows) according to the wind direction.
Worst of all, when the going gets tough, you might find that your chick was nothing but a fair-weather friend!
Here's a quick howto by IBM developerWorks (in fact written by the actual chairman of the Linux Standard Base, George Kraft IV) on developing LSB-certified apps. It's got that October freshness about it...
Incidentally there's a link to a Solaris-to-Linux porting guide in the resources section of that article but LSB isn't even mentioned in that lengthy document...
>> While their motivation may be purely profit-driven
Um - aren't pretty much all (profitable) companies profit-driven?
I mean Microsoft, Red Hat, Sun, IBM, etc - none of them are charities right?
As a general rule I would call a company purely profit-driven when they fail to take ethical and/or social consequences of their business decisions into consideration.
While big corporations like Sun and IBM might be doing the right thing because it helps drive revenues, Microsoft has never allowed ethics or social consequences get in the way of their single-minded drive for profit through world domination. Or shouldn't that be world domination through profit instead?
Umm, come think of it that way, Microsoft isn't a good example of purely profit-driven company either. For them money is largely a means to global domination and therefore a resource (aka air supply) that must be squeezed away from their competitors. Incidentally, this is largely why Open Source Software is good for anyone but Microsoft or their remaining parasitic cronies.
Slashdot Mirror
Yet the fact remains that OSS is now officially deemed a competitive threat to the MS empire. Combine that with a few other facts: 1) that MS still doesn't know how to combat that threat and while the wet-noodle-slap legal ruling was a travesty of justice it'll still deter MS from using their most underhanded arsenal of tactics, and 2) Microsoft's financial pyramid scheme depends on ever-increasing profits and a reversal will result in all kinds of additional expenses compared to their past mode of operation.
However the OSS community, despite being the ideal builders of level playing fields, are still far from having significant (let alone equal or over-riding) influence in the areas where MS holds their most valuable monopolies. Giving Microsoft's obscene profits ever so slightly bigger squeeze is just a minor symptom stemming from the battle over the control (or freedom) of crucially important standards, protocols and file formats. If competition is to work, that's where it really happens, not on Microsoft's product price tags.
The dotNET thingy is where MS plans to create their next complete set of standards to obsolete those caught up by the OSS community so expect some semi-serious revamping of their Licensing 6.0 in the months ahead. But don't expect to see OSS mentioned anywhere in those announcements; it'll all be due to this great innovating company gracefully catering for their valued customers' needs and wishes and "giving them what they ask for"...
It'll be interesting to see whether that can slow the adoption of OSS by any noticeable degree. I'm afraid (read: convinced) that Microsoft's hardballs are finally heading back home to roost.
I said a living relative of Mac OS X... ;-)
Sorry for the unfunny joke; I actually kept up with GNUstep until a couple of years ago, always wishing the project well.
I know they've made progress since Apple finally started pushing the faithful towards the *step/yellowbox/Cocoa apps and it'd be great to have those apps available under GNUstep/Linux as well.
But I'd still prefer Gnome as the frontend for all this natural goodness.
Hell, the display I was talking about was just announced a couple of days ago so I demand some slack! :^)
:^)
Umm, the ADC (Apple-only) -> DVI (generic) adapter is only good for relatively recent Macheads who want to use commodity flatpanels.
Anyways, after having another look I found Apple selling a DVI -> ADC adapter for US$99.
All things considered that's not too much extra to pay for an added inconvenience - althought it also encourages Apple to keep to its proprietary ways - but now I (the potential outside-Apple-market customer, my Macs are pre-ADC) must somehow ensure that this extraneous adapter doesn't cause any added complications under X-windows. Not that I'd expect any from a straight digital conversion but I've learned to be cautious over the years.
PS. The new 20" Apple flatpanels are actually just $1299 instead of the 2k you're talking about... Is that an acceptable excuse for my lack of research?
You'll still need decent hardware (128MB, >300Mhz) to fully appreciate Nautilus, but the same can be said about running Mac OS X.
Gnome is the closest living relative to NeXT/OpenStep or OS/2 Warp which both were truly wonderful environments but steamrolled into obscurity by the MS monopoly. Gnome and Linux are GPL'd so they can't be steamrolled off the market!
Gnome's the choice for a poor man since it runs on the commodity-priced x86 platform. Mac OS X is good value on Apple's reasonably-priced 'Books though.
Gnome's the choice for a free man since it allows the user to decide when to upgrade (and do it for free if desired) and on which iron to run it. Mac OS X, while nice, leaves the user at the mercy of Apple's whims. I talk from experience; Mac OS X won't run on my (back then) expensive PowerMac despite Apple's promises at the time.
Under Gnome-on-Linux users can run practically any type of apps, including classic Mac apps under Mac-on-Linux or Windows apps under WINE (only recommended as last resort IMO, won't work under PowerPC yet). Some KDE apps are truly great and they also run natively (it's all about the LIBS, not the windowmanager...). X, Java, console, emulators... it's all available.
PS. I'd buy one of those new 20" Apple displays if they came with a standard interface (namely DVI) instead of the proprietary ADC. I still want to see them around *innovating*, but not on their terms and at my expense...
Yummy indeed!
While I've so far managed to avoid PDAs these Zaurus guys are making it increasingly difficult to avoid the temptation.
At $700 the SL-C700 is really targeted for productivity applications, besides the usual organizer functions, but once their price drops to around $500 and they get the ability to stream broadcast quality video or TV (which I control remotely through a wireless IEEE 802.11 connection to my desktop doubling as DVR) and to (dis)play video CD/DVD discs through USB2 or Firewire-connected portable player I'm out of excuses.
Now that's the kind of remote Linux terminal I could do with.
Whoever modded Raetsel's post as a troll must be on funny mushrooms or something. Then again astroturfing seems to be on the rise again and Slashdot is certainly a strategic target...
If there was no existing threat to MS monopoly from budding Open Source alternatives MS could, as in the past, simply ignore the demand for alternative language versions safe in the knowledge that they have that market cornered anyway.
Now, according to BBC the number of Nynorsk speakers is estimated at mere 400,000, but OTOH scandinavians are more likely to actually pay (and high prices at that) for their software and getting kids hooked already at school is an opportunity MS can't afford to pass unchallenged.
But does this Nynorsk language organization actually wield any power what comes to the schools' purchasing decisions?
And has anyone told them that they could actually help themselves by having local people translate OpenOffice.org (isn't getting people involved in the Nynorsk language their objective?) and save money in the process?
Finally, this news is only about MS-Office getting translated. What about other MS-ware, let alone all the other proprietary software available in that market? Wouldn't this be an area where local Linux distros, perhaps together with educational institutions, could provide services tailored exactly for particular language markets?
Is it just that most people here probably grew (or are in the process of growing) up under the gentle shadow of the RIAA, but no one seems to have noticed the *glaring* highlighting error in the editorial sentence "With the way the RIAA and some artists *cough*Garth Brooks*cough* have labeled..."
Do I need to cough it up for you? For RIAA's sake...!
With the way the RIAA and some *cough*artists*cough* Garth Brooks have labeled these..."
The only secure way to use the verification tool is to boot from a readonly media and run the tool from there.
This would be a useful feature addition to the rescue mode of boot CDs.
Security could/should be made more newbie-friendly.
Another thing is that with *free* platforms the distro-builders need to earn their living from services rendered, and security is as good a service as anything. With internet access being in the core of everything, couldn't the distro companies also provide optional integrity checking service over a secure connection? I could envision a write-once space for uploaded checksums against all installed packages...
Of course, once distros start creating such remote personal customer services the door opens for a host of new support and service packages (built-in webhosting etc., anyone?). Credible distro makers would probably benefit from their reputation at the expense of fly-by-night operators.
Oh come on. The key point in the settlement was a standardized price sheet for Windows OEM licences.
That means no more MS Office and Encarta 'favors' demanded from the OEMs.
Does the court's amnes..., I mean settlement ruling also apply outside the court's jurisdiction, i.e. outside US territories? Or is M$ allowed to price their warez differently in different EU states, let alone elsewhere in the world?
Considering how unwilling the conservative pro- big business judicial system was to apply even most toothless remedies I would be extremely surprised if any restrictions whatsoever were placed on the home-grown global monopolist's foreign operations.
Yes, Corel, the weather vane of IT industry (just follow the opposite direction).
Price comes first, and Corel is valued at cash value, if not even lower. They've got loads of software, WP Office (which luckily wasn't rebranded Corel XXXX to even destroy the brand too), CorelDraw, Micrografx line, Softquad line (HoTMetaL etc.) and who knows what else. And thanks to Corel they're all essentially valued at NIL. Use what is useful and spit out the rest for sale (most of which might even have a chance of success once out of Corel's clueless fingers) or open-sourcing.
Although Corel have tried their best to become totally irrelevant, they still continue to release PR that some journos read, or at least re-circulate. Currently that muscular PR machine is churning out, you guessed it, Micorsoft PR and their employees probably get fired just for mentioning Linux. Problem easily solved by Sun.
Sun knows how to sue monopolists instead of giving them discounted shares and even working for them for free (yes, you guessed who). If Java is worth $billion + damages, what about WordPerfect which was pummelled out of all channels (esp. preloads) by MS. Isn't MS-Office micorsoft's most valuable cash cow? Hit 'em where it hurts most.
And StarOffice... I'm sure there's something worth scavenging in WP Office that would benefit StarOffice. At least WP engineers used to be good at reverse-engineering MS-word filters. Migrating their remaining users out of micorsoft's sphere of influence would also be useful, as would phasing out the MS-windows-based no-revenue preloads that some OEMs use to avoid the full force of MS tax.
Luckily I don't share your cynicism or those 386's would be in a landfill and the 486's still running pirated copies of windows.
I don't know what your life philosophy is, but surely the idea of helping others can't be that repugnant to you??
"Space launch sites, high-speed rail lines, container ports, technology museums - I've tried them all."
How about something more, umm, human? Like teaching computer skills to exiled people while learning a thing or two from simply being there?
Some people say it's been the most satisfying thing they ever did. A little compassion can make even everyday gadgets more amazing...
Exactly. They couldn't take control of OpenDoc so after decent time after its funeral they now feel free to try and reinvent it in their typical MS-proprietary style. Sorry, I meant "innovate".
PS. This "longdick" (by "microsoft"? LOL) stuff is very unlikely to come out until 2006, or 2005 at earliest. By then their usual bullying tactics may not be as effective as in the last decade. Goodluckium, Obladidium... You'll be born Obsoletium!
MS has *always* relied on rumour-mongering (sic) to have others (read: the ms-centric press) to do the FUDding for them. I see there are still takers...
I just love it when some financial analyst (the infamous Enderle) gives out a quote like "[microsoft's longhorn] will almost completely prevent the platform from being compromised." while having no qualms about the proprietary hardware platform being owned exclusively by a corporation that has been convicted of having abused their computer desktop monopoly(ies). That's U.S. of A. for ya, folks.
I wonder what the previous holders of the Proprietary Hardware Crown, Apple, think about these acts by the microsoft corporation.
It's only a surface wound. Really, I'm alright, I just need a bandaid...
Public support for FreeDOS would provide relief in the short term, but Linux is capable of doing it too.
Heck, Gigabyte has a Microsoft® Windows-only(TM) tool that updates the BIOS on their latest motherboards over the internet! (that's Google's html translation of Gigabyte's pfd file)
Some Linux developers have already been dabbling with such a "hardware update" (aka BIOS flasher) tool but perhaps there should be a concerted effort to build a development kit that the OEMs would find simple to tailor for their purposes. Opening direct hardware access under Microsoft® Windows(TM) over the internet sounds like the thing for gonzos to do, but at least under Linux it could be done relatively securely and by root only.
Instead of all the jumping-through-hoops to build a bootable DOS floppy etc., why aren't the hardware manufacturers starting to build Linux-based tools?
The GPL'd FreeDOS project deserves kudos for providing legacy support alright, but Linux also provides additional reliability (no lockups during BIOS flashing...), choices between CLI or various GUIs, continued cutting-edge development of the environment with support for USB, FireWire or whatever media peripherals might be available and even support for hardware platforms other than x86 (e.g. Mac peripherals have BIOSes as well), to mention some advantages off the top of my head.
Since hardware manufacturers can't continue relying on DOS much longer now that MS is pulling the plug, the obvious choice for boot-time tools is really the freely-distributable Linux. It would be a tragedy for everyone but Microsoft if Windows became the successor of DOS as the *required* hardware maintenance platform.
"...may not be miss universe..."
Any female physicist who helps humanity to unlock the secrets of the universe is well worthy of that title.
> Funny thing about Free software. You *can't* kill it.
Wrong. That's what software patents are for.
Actually, that would only work in the U.S. or whatever satellite states they can bribe and/or threaten into submission.
As long as there's one tiny speck on the map where people are allowed to share intellectual property unhindered, or enough civil courage within the intellectually suppressed nations, Free software will continue to be developed. And that's the doomsday scenario. As things stand, the number of countries finding OSS advantageous is only just starting to really take off, and we all know how the network effect works!
I've been wondering why Nokia doesn't "do microsoft" and join the OSS community (I mean in full force instead of the toe-tipping), IBM, Sun et al in undercutting the exact Microsoft powerbases that they use to extend their monopoly so effectively. Those monopolistic horns-of-plenty are of course Office and the Windows OSes. Those two - Office and OS - are the only weapons that can truly force MS into the compromising (aka negotiating) table.
.NET and towards OSS-compatible open standards would give MS another double-blow, and porting their graphics apps line-up to Linux would complete that turnaround. For a relatively small investment Nokia could deliver a huge blow to Microsoft's revenue stream and thereby to their ability to continue to use the MSFT stock in the pyramidesque scam as before.
First the OS: If Nokia were to throw their full force around to endorse Linux within EU and elsewhere in the world (U.S. exempted, since there the MS monopoly is now sanctioned by the republican regime), the effect would be significant. Everybody knows and trusts Nokia, and there's a fair amount of gadgetry out there under their label besides just mobile phones. Computers, set-top boxes and PDAs are also "communicators" of sort and thereby within the territory Nokia must be in to remain relevant ad infinitum.
Undercutting Microsoft's Office revenue just makes so much sense that it hurts. Here Nokia ought to endorse OpenOffice and StarOffice and using their massice channel access they could easily help add a few crucial percentage points to OOo's userbase. And if they were really serious they could even buy out the MS lackey's Corel at near cash value and redirect their WordPerfect Office resources towards OOo/StarOffice development. That'd be worth at least some 10 markershare points if aggressively executed. Moving Corel's XML-based strategy (dynamic data delivery to any device, including mobile devices) away from
As a succesful and reliable hardware vendor Nokia can and should take Microsoft head on, because Microsoft has been trying to do just that to Nokia (and everybody else who matters) already.
I'm talking about those little DOS proggies that vendors still put out on their support sites along with instructions on how to build a MS-DOS boot floppy for upgrading buggy ROMs and such.
.iso packages instead the requiring MS-DOS "ownership" or fiddling with arcane building instructions. For FIES (Free In Every Sense) and without branding restrictions too.
With MS-DOS' official funeral finally looming close, wouldn't it make a lot of sense for the hardware vendors to port their utilities to Linux? I mean, Linux offers free floppy-sized bootability, good choice of development tools (incl. compact crossplatform GUIs) and the potential for using one kit for maintaining hardware on platforms other than x86 PCs (Macs, PDAs...).
The *freedom* of Linux would also allow vendors to offer pre-built floppy or CD-ROM
Are there any reasons why Linux shouldn't succeed MS-DOS as the universal boot-time tools platform? Or will FreeDOS now rise to unprecedented dominance? And what does Microsoft have in store to maintain their monopoly of this small but quite important (it's about controlling booting after all!) niche?
... to hear the verdict:
All your bass are belong to us!!
... to attract cute flightless chix into your shiny nest.
But that opportunity comes at a heavy price, not even getting into dollar figures: how many of us are used to changing our outlook (and I mean WYSIWYG through your actual windows) according to the wind direction.
Worst of all, when the going gets tough, you might find that your chick was nothing but a fair-weather friend!
Here's a quick howto by IBM developerWorks (in fact written by the actual chairman of the Linux Standard Base, George Kraft IV) on developing LSB-certified apps. It's got that October freshness about it...
Incidentally there's a link to a Solaris-to-Linux porting guide in the resources section of that article but LSB isn't even mentioned in that lengthy document...
>> While their motivation may be purely profit-driven
Um - aren't pretty much all (profitable) companies profit-driven?
I mean Microsoft, Red Hat, Sun, IBM, etc - none of them are charities right?
As a general rule I would call a company purely profit-driven when they fail to take ethical and/or social consequences of their business decisions into consideration.
While big corporations like Sun and IBM might be doing the right thing because it helps drive revenues, Microsoft has never allowed ethics or social consequences get in the way of their single-minded drive for profit through world domination. Or shouldn't that be world domination through profit instead?
Umm, come think of it that way, Microsoft isn't a good example of purely profit-driven company either. For them money is largely a means to global domination and therefore a resource (aka air supply) that must be squeezed away from their competitors. Incidentally, this is largely why Open Source Software is good for anyone but Microsoft or their remaining parasitic cronies.