That's pretty dim reasoning, because Microsoft has a long, proven history of customer and partner abuse, while none of the Linux distributions do. And I'd like to know how anyone would even pick your company as a target- suppose you download and use a free-beer Linux. Who on earth would even know you had it? SCO was already way over the legal line when they claimed end-users were liable. Sorry, but there is absolutely zero legal precedent for holding users responsible for vendor's misdeeds. In a nutshell, whoever makes the decisions in your company is beyond stupid and well into delusional.
My company's policy was, 'Better safe than sorry'. Considering that our local state considers it a 'financial institution', a certain caution was automatically required.
You are saying that these agencies will read between the lines to help Bush become "the emperor" of the United States Empire. That will only happen if the entire government is as corrupt as you are accusing Bush of being. If that truly is the case, then may I suggest Soap, Ballots, Jury, and Ammo. In that order.
It doesn't take 100% corruption to effect a negative change. Just handpick some family friends for the top slots, clamp down on whistleblowers by removing their protections, and let fear do the rest. When somebody is told, 'DO it or you'll never eat lunch in this town again', and they know for a fact that Federal regulations won't protect their bureacratic ass, they'll bend. 'Just following orders' didn't play at Nuremburg, but it is a sell-out show in Washington...
But what of the military? Hate to break this news to you, but the Joint Chiefs are as much politicians as soldiers/sailors these days, and have been for quite some time.
Then, after a period of reflection there might be enough evidence already in the legal system for someone like Novell to take Action against Microsoft. I expect that Novell will examine their options very carefully in this respect after all, what is to stop a behmoth like Microsoft from buying all Novell shares and thus quashing any possible legal challenge which may or may not prove their complicity in the SCO/IBM affair.
I, for one would not put it beyong them with a company like Novell. If IBM were to take on M$ then it would get very interesting indeed.
Good point. They would also snap up Netware technology by eating Novell. Back in The Day, it paid big bucks to grok Netware. These days, not so much. But it's bound to be worth something, even as a way of blocking the technology for use. Just because somebody buys something doesn't mean they have to use it. If they come up with perfectly good business reasons for gobbling up Novell just to bury its technology, I could see this happening...
You actually gave credence to SCO's claims? Oh my. Why oh why??
Same reason every other company stepped back a bit. 'Just in case'. You wait til the dust settles and the paperwork stops flying and then make your choice. Place where I worked replaced an aging Netware server that they couldn't find anyone to maintain for a Windows 2003 server rather than a Linux server which would have done just as well. The reasoning? 'With this SCO shit going around, we're not gonna take any chances that they can't walk in here someday with a subpoena and sue our asses into bankruptcy.'
One thing is quite certain: Microsoft would never be so idiotic as to put their financing of the SCO litigation in writing. We have no idea exactly what was said at the time, but it may be that Microsoft originally actually thought there was a modicum of substance behind SCO's litigation. They might then have been willing to invest it it even more heavily than they did. Perhaps Goldfarb was counting on that.
Or, that by helping out with SCO's FUD, Microsoft would hold onto its advantages. By keeping Linux developers on the defensive, it bought time for Microsoft to keep on doing things the Microsoft way -- way late, way too little, but still way profitable. The upside of it is, it wouldn't be Microsoft spreading the FUD, it would be SCO, which would take a bit of heat off Microsoft. And if SCO could somehow, some way, actually win, even better, as it would force Linux distributions to actually compete in Microsoft's back yard, where they own the ball, the bat, the back yard, and the referees, as well as having options on all the star players.
FWIW, I'm beginning to think that Microsoft purposely let some of its code escape the ranch in order to scream, somewhere down the line, 'All your code are belongs to us. You stole it fourth, fifth, or sixth hand by using that evil Linux code'. Considering that the code haddn't escaped into the wild for decades, it's the only thing that makes sense to me.
I have to admit to being curious why any company would get involved in a business deal with Microsoft. I can understand being their customer, but willingly partnering with a company that stabs partners in the back on a regular basis just seems crazy. "Yes, just step over those corpses on the way into the conference room -- pay no attention to the ghost of Stacker rattling those noisey chains, I assure you this is a win-win situation!"
Back in The Day, there was a saying, 'Nobody ever got fired for specifying IBM'. Today, it's 'Nobody ever got fired for specifying Microsoft'. Everybody knows they own the market. Everybody wants compatibility. It's that simple. And to keep this edge going, Microsoft will keep doing what they did in the past, 'upgrading' their office software suite to make sure it won't work with anybody else's stuff. They don't upgrade for technical reasons, at least, not until Vista ships. But then, I've also read that a lot of things Microsoft Marketting told us would be in Vista got pushed into the 'next version of Windows', whenever that will be. No 'Windows file system', for instance.
And by writing Vista to require cutting edge hardware, by the time it actually ships, they're assuring themselves as part of the next generation of computer users. The software drives the hardware which requires the software. Add in non-disclosure agreements to hardware vendors, and you pretty much assure lockin due to the needed drivers for the new hardware to be locked away someplace and not let the specifications out in the 'wild'.
Add in the new DRM that Vista will ship with, courtesy of some arm twisting by *AA ('Support DRM or we'll tie you up in court for decades, Bill'), necessitating the hardware to support DRM as well, and you get Vista.
My ass doesn't NEED protecting. And my kids don't need to be shot up in a war started by lies, more lies, and spin to make the lies easier to swallow. I did my time in the Army back during the Vietnam war (remember that?), my family's been involved in every war this country ever had, since the French & Indian War up to the current debacle.
And yes, I am doing something, trying to get my Party the hell away from Millenialist fanatics who want to start Armegeddon just to bring Jesus back in their lifetime. These are serious times, they call for serious people. You aren't one of them.
I hope one of you jokers does rig the election. Give 100% to somebody, I don't even care who. Then there will be no choice but to deal with the Diebold issue.
Works for me, but I really WOULD like to know who would win, Linus or Stallman...
no, i consider accusing a perfectly legal election to be stolen simply because your canidate didn't win to be left wing agenda. Also, Bush can't be put in again, hes already served his max number of terms...
No, actually, I think he earned one more, in the Federal pennitentary.
I dislike the republicans greatly and, yet, often find myself posting arguments along those lines, but not for the reasons you suppose. I do so (which I should note: at the damage to my karma), because I feel that there is a lack of perspective on these boards that sorely needs addressing. Implicit in discussions about the next election or the government's failures is this assumption that the democrats are the answer to all our problems. That if only Bush weren't in office, that: 9/11 wouldn't have happened, the budget would be balanced, the response to Katrina would have been top-notch, the muslim world would love us, the economy would be going well, and so on. It's bullshit. Now, don't get me wrong, things probably would be better (it'd be harder to screw it up more than this crew has), but to assume that republicans are the reason for all our woes is both simplistic and unproductive.
Clinton's people handed Bush's people the full brief on bin-Laden the day Bush took office. It was ignored, as the new administration believed Iraq was a greater threat to 'national security' than Al Queda was. Clinton tried taking bin-Laden out of the picture, the Neos bitched every time he had a shot fired in bin-Ladin's general direction. And then after 9/11, bitched that Clinton didn't do enough to take him out.
Now, I didn't care much for Clinton, the man commited PERJURY and should have been held to accounts for that, except the Senate voted strictly by Party lines all the way down. This taught the Neos that if they EVER got in power, to make DAMNED sure every vote by those in the Party toed the Party line or else.
It's my opinion that the only man of honor in the Bush administration resigned rather than serve a 2nd term. Colin Powell was a good soldier, and soldiered on as SecState until he could no longer stomach it. What we have left are nothing but spin doctors bent on pressing the Neo line.
Can the next election be stolen? Yes. Given the will, the money, and the opportunity, absolutely. The current crop of electronic voting machines just make it that much easier to do. What's the answer? I have no clue, but I DO know the answer isn't electronic voting machines lacking a paper trail verification system, that can be broken into with a luggage key or minibar key. Nor is it 'sleepover machines'; voting machines should be transported by armored cars, with armed Brinks guards as well as Secret Service, and stored in bank vaults overnight til needed on Election Day. If we're going to spend the money for these machines, we SHOULD be getting the best machines out there, not a pork contract to the current regime's political buddies. And if we don't get our money's worth, sue the contractors, for chrissakes.
I want you to have to show your free, state provided ID to prove you have the right to vote before you get your ballot.
My 'free state provided ID' cost me 20 bucks. Supposedly, it's good til I turn 65, 14 years from now. However, with the new requirement I have a Federal-approved ID, I get to spend $30, 40, maybe more in a year to get it.
Yeah, we can, as long as the 22nd Amendment is in force. Nice thing about it is, it makes any p*l*t*c**n into a temporary problem, gone in 2 terms max.
ell, terrorism actually happens. If this starts to happen to US citizens who aren't terrorists, then that will be a grave concern and the use of this program will have to be balanced against the responsibility to protect Americans from terrorism. Since it doesn't happen in reality, it's not a real concern.
Not if. When.
They told us that the USA PATRIOT act would ONLY be used against terrorists.
I suggest you keep an eye on what they're doing to the 22nd Amendment.
The interesting thing is, back when Clinton's people were working on getting rid of it, the Neos were wholeheartedly against it. Now that one of their own is in power, suddenly it's a Great Idea Whose Time Has Come.
Personally, I'm thinking just shoot 'em all, then shoot the lawyers and the bureaucrats. Get 'em all in one swell foop.
Considering the proportion of armed nutjobs in Michigan, I second that. And if they happen to thin some of those nutjobs out, we can always 'honor the fallen defenders as heroes'. A win-win situation...
What makes you think the 'opposition' will be allowed to power? If the 22nd Amendment stands (and seems everybody from as far back as Reagan has been trying to whack it), The Neopubs will just shuffle Jeb into GeeDub's place and march blindly on. If the 22nd falls, then GeeDub gets to play Prez until they can no longer convincingly steal the elections.
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Sounds like motherboard problems to me.
My company's policy was, 'Better safe than sorry'. Considering that our local state considers it a 'financial institution', a certain caution was automatically required.
It doesn't take 100% corruption to effect a negative change. Just handpick some family friends for the top slots, clamp down on whistleblowers by removing their protections, and let fear do the rest. When somebody is told, 'DO it or you'll never eat lunch in this town again', and they know for a fact that Federal regulations won't protect their bureacratic ass, they'll bend. 'Just following orders' didn't play at Nuremburg, but it is a sell-out show in Washington...
But what of the military? Hate to break this news to you, but the Joint Chiefs are as much politicians as soldiers/sailors these days, and have been for quite some time.
You're thinking VD. VC were the guys in black pajamas shooting at my classmates back in The Day.
Good point. They would also snap up Netware technology by eating Novell. Back in The Day, it paid big bucks to grok Netware. These days, not so much. But it's bound to be worth something, even as a way of blocking the technology for use. Just because somebody buys something doesn't mean they have to use it. If they come up with perfectly good business reasons for gobbling up Novell just to bury its technology, I could see this happening...
Same reason every other company stepped back a bit. 'Just in case'. You wait til the dust settles and the paperwork stops flying and then make your choice. Place where I worked replaced an aging Netware server that they couldn't find anyone to maintain for a Windows 2003 server rather than a Linux server which would have done just as well. The reasoning? 'With this SCO shit going around, we're not gonna take any chances that they can't walk in here someday with a subpoena and sue our asses into bankruptcy.'
Or, that by helping out with SCO's FUD, Microsoft would hold onto its advantages. By keeping Linux developers on the defensive, it bought time for Microsoft to keep on doing things the Microsoft way -- way late, way too little, but still way profitable. The upside of it is, it wouldn't be Microsoft spreading the FUD, it would be SCO, which would take a bit of heat off Microsoft. And if SCO could somehow, some way, actually win, even better, as it would force Linux distributions to actually compete in Microsoft's back yard, where they own the ball, the bat, the back yard, and the referees, as well as having options on all the star players.
FWIW, I'm beginning to think that Microsoft purposely let some of its code escape the ranch in order to scream, somewhere down the line, 'All your code are belongs to us. You stole it fourth, fifth, or sixth hand by using that evil Linux code'. Considering that the code haddn't escaped into the wild for decades, it's the only thing that makes sense to me.
Back in The Day, there was a saying, 'Nobody ever got fired for specifying IBM'. Today, it's 'Nobody ever got fired for specifying Microsoft'. Everybody knows they own the market. Everybody wants compatibility. It's that simple. And to keep this edge going, Microsoft will keep doing what they did in the past, 'upgrading' their office software suite to make sure it won't work with anybody else's stuff. They don't upgrade for technical reasons, at least, not until Vista ships. But then, I've also read that a lot of things Microsoft Marketting told us would be in Vista got pushed into the 'next version of Windows', whenever that will be. No 'Windows file system', for instance.
And by writing Vista to require cutting edge hardware, by the time it actually ships, they're assuring themselves as part of the next generation of computer users. The software drives the hardware which requires the software. Add in non-disclosure agreements to hardware vendors, and you pretty much assure lockin due to the needed drivers for the new hardware to be locked away someplace and not let the specifications out in the 'wild'.
Add in the new DRM that Vista will ship with, courtesy of some arm twisting by *AA ('Support DRM or we'll tie you up in court for decades, Bill'), necessitating the hardware to support DRM as well, and you get Vista.
Welcome to the future.
Kid sounds like a Democrat. They never saw a social program they didn't like, paid for by a larger chunk of your income...
I took the oath to defend my country. What did you do, sign up for the Homeland Security version of the KGB?
If you're so gung-ho about this war, why aren't you in uniform?
And yes, I am doing something, trying to get my Party the hell away from Millenialist fanatics who want to start Armegeddon just to bring Jesus back in their lifetime. These are serious times, they call for serious people. You aren't one of them.
Works for me, but I really WOULD like to know who would win, Linus or Stallman...
No, actually, I think he earned one more, in the Federal pennitentary.
So is being a Republican with the opinion that the Neos need to be neutered to keep them from reproducing.
I do. And I'm seriously considering cleaning & polishing the Winchester when I do...
Clinton's people handed Bush's people the full brief on bin-Laden the day Bush took office. It was ignored, as the new administration believed Iraq was a greater threat to 'national security' than Al Queda was. Clinton tried taking bin-Laden out of the picture, the Neos bitched every time he had a shot fired in bin-Ladin's general direction. And then after 9/11, bitched that Clinton didn't do enough to take him out.
Now, I didn't care much for Clinton, the man commited PERJURY and should have been held to accounts for that, except the Senate voted strictly by Party lines all the way down. This taught the Neos that if they EVER got in power, to make DAMNED sure every vote by those in the Party toed the Party line or else.
It's my opinion that the only man of honor in the Bush administration resigned rather than serve a 2nd term. Colin Powell was a good soldier, and soldiered on as SecState until he could no longer stomach it. What we have left are nothing but spin doctors bent on pressing the Neo line.
Can the next election be stolen? Yes. Given the will, the money, and the opportunity, absolutely. The current crop of electronic voting machines just make it that much easier to do. What's the answer? I have no clue, but I DO know the answer isn't electronic voting machines lacking a paper trail verification system, that can be broken into with a luggage key or minibar key. Nor is it 'sleepover machines'; voting machines should be transported by armored cars, with armed Brinks guards as well as Secret Service, and stored in bank vaults overnight til needed on Election Day. If we're going to spend the money for these machines, we SHOULD be getting the best machines out there, not a pork contract to the current regime's political buddies. And if we don't get our money's worth, sue the contractors, for chrissakes.
My 'free state provided ID' cost me 20 bucks. Supposedly, it's good til I turn 65, 14 years from now. However, with the new requirement I have a Federal-approved ID, I get to spend $30, 40, maybe more in a year to get it.
Still, that's an AWFUL lotta pr0n...
Yeah, we can, as long as the 22nd Amendment is in force. Nice thing about it is, it makes any p*l*t*c**n into a temporary problem, gone in 2 terms max.
Not if. When.
They told us that the USA PATRIOT act would ONLY be used against terrorists.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Nov-05 -Wed-2003/news/22521283.html
Any questions?
The interesting thing is, back when Clinton's people were working on getting rid of it, the Neos were wholeheartedly against it. Now that one of their own is in power, suddenly it's a Great Idea Whose Time Has Come.
Personally, I'm thinking just shoot 'em all, then shoot the lawyers and the bureaucrats. Get 'em all in one swell foop.
Considering the proportion of armed nutjobs in Michigan, I second that. And if they happen to thin some of those nutjobs out, we can always 'honor the fallen defenders as heroes'. A win-win situation...
What makes you think the 'opposition' will be allowed to power? If the 22nd Amendment stands (and seems everybody from as far back as Reagan has been trying to whack it), The Neopubs will just shuffle Jeb into GeeDub's place and march blindly on. If the 22nd falls, then GeeDub gets to play Prez until they can no longer convincingly steal the elections.
I'll save you a spot in the chow line at Gitmo.