I've actually thought the same thing many times (though from an 'Open Source' rather than a 'Free Sotware' viewpoint); what's the point of having a completely open-source OS and drivers if you don't have an open BIOS? From a security standpoint, it's similar to Apple's OSX -- the kernel may be open to review, but if Aqua is completely closed, there is no way you can verify that there are no backdoors in it. You can only be certain if you have 100% access to all the code running on your system and can check it yourself, and even then, it's still a bit risky (I know I'm paranoid, I'm an OpenBSD guy at heart). While it is highly unlikely, if your BIOS is closed the possibility of backdoors still exists, and will become more probable in the future as MS/Pheonix get together on their new DRM-BIOS (search old Slashdot articles to find it).
In short: Anyone in the post 9-11 world who trusts the government or big business to look out for the rights or privacy of the individual needs to stop watching the Fox Propaganda Network and see what's happening that Rupert Murdoch DOESN'T want you to know about.
This "you can still make money" bullshit is rediculous. I can still make money giving away GPL software by working at fucking McDonalds too, but I want to sell software, so I am not going to do that. You can't say people are bad or wrong for wanting to sell software, or for saying that the GPL prevents them from doing so, cause it does. Not everyone can or wants to be a service or support company, the GPL will never be everywhere, so deal with it and quit calling FUD when people don't do things the RMS way.
In theory, and at first glance, you're correct. The GPL insists that any software you sell come with source code and the freedom to redistribute the software without fear of punishment.
Realistically, though, your fears are unfounded. My case study? Microsoft Office. What is perhaps the most pirated, bootlegged, copied, and swapped software of all time is still Microsoft's REAL long-term cash cow. Despite the fact that it is freely available to anyone who asks a friend or does a quick Kazaa, IRC or BitTorrent search, it still carries a monolithic monopoly through good times and bad. Because, and I hate to say this, it is good software. People are willing to pay for it. People buy upgrades. Nobody HAS to, it's very easily found. And there are millions of pirated copies shared out there, but because it is the defacto standard as far as office suites goes, it continues to sell. If YOUR software was as good as MS Office, GPL or no, it would be as successful.
GPL fans only WISH their software was as widely and freely distributed as MS Office.
...there would be no was OS X could have reached the state it is in now had it been developed open source. There wouldn't have been enough incentive for Apple's talented developers, and management wouldn't have been motivated to include it with Apple computers.
Except, of course, that it would drive sales of Macs, exactly as it has done. Apple wouldn't sell half the units if it weren't for OS X. And if you're worried someone else will take the source and port it to x86, that's irrelevant. The important functionality has been mostly duplicated WITHOUT having the source code; Expose, the Aqua look, the swooshy dock, brushed metal, the MenuBar... all are available elsewhere WITHOUT it being open sourced. So keeping it closed didn't help them keep a monopoly on their ideas, because once somebody sees a good idea, everyone else uses it. And that's okay. It's what we've always done, at least back to the time someone started copying Henry Ford's assembly line idea so they could compete effectively, thus creating the auto industry that gives us cheap, reliable automobiles. Society gets better by constantly taking other people's ideas ("standing on the shoulders of giants"), improving on them and reselling them. And then the other guy is forced to innovate again to stay ahead. That's capitalism. Capitalism doesn't work without competition to drive quality up and prices down. We argue against it when our favorite company is getting copied, but they copy people as well, regardless of what the zealots say. Konfabulator, Watson, Xerox Parc's GUI ideas, BSD guts, the iMac idea which an artist apparently submitted to Apple as an idea. No company is an island unto itself; everybody is affected by the innovations of others. And opening the source wouldn't help x86 or Linux or whatever duplicate the "whole widget" effect which is the main selling point of the MacOS, because the relevant code would only apply to the exact Mac hardware it was written for -- which means you gotta buy a Mac to get the "whole widget" effect, or make your own hardware and software yourself.
In short, it wouldn't hurt Apple a bit. Sure, somebody might port OS X and run it on their Toshiba, but the user wouldn't be buying a Mac anyway; they've already got a Toshiba. And the "whole widget" smoothness wouldn't be there, so it'd be more like running a crappy version of linux than the real OS X on the real hardware. They'd get bored and go back to Windows, or spring for a real Mac if they liked it enough. And Apple might sell a few more copies of iLife.
Not that I think Apple should waste their time porting OSX, I just know that some large firms don't allow closed-source, proprietary code on their servers due to security concerns. The Chinese government said they found an NSA backdoor in Windows; I would assume the NSA also ordered one put on the Mac.
That's why I said "Eventually". Within 5 years, all the hardware on the market should have strong, possibly encrypted, DRM built into the BIOS and God only knows what else. Saying "don't worry about it" has always been a recipe for disaster when you KNOW there are wealthy, powerful people dying to make something happen.
Good point -- and I would bet that sharing a cassette, in their eyes, is just as illegal as putting an MP3 online -- it's just not worth the effort to crack down on it because of the smaller scale. Because we're being led *by industry* into going all digital, everything and anything can be tracked, monitored, and accounted for if you put software in the right places (ISPs, etc.).
While catching tape traders is impossible, catching MP3 traders (or anyone else doing something "they" don't like online) is simply a matter of getting the right laws passed and throwing money at it until the entire net is covered with surveillance.
Eventually, they will block off all avenues of escape, and they will win, and the people -- and freedom -- will lose. Because right now you have no idea how many laws you're breaking that are currently unenforceable. Give the gov't/industry total control and total omniscience, and we'll be getting fines in the mail on a weekly basis.
Too late, my friend. Too late. I knew BT's cover was blown when a couple of young kids from my wife's CHURCH asked me (the guy off in the corner in the OpenBSD Blowfish T-shirt with the actual algorithm on the back standing by himself and chain-drinking coffee) if *I* had heard of BitTorrent.
"It's kinda like Kazaa, but way cooler" the young pre-pimply punk in the orange hawaiian shirt said.
"Yeah, cooler", said his little brother, wearing an equally tacky spider-man shirt.
"Oh, F***!" I said.
There goes the neighbourhood.
And I need to stress, these weren't even REGULAR kids. These were CHURCH kids, the kind that's not allowed to listen to Hootie and the Blowfish because they're the Devil Music. The good thing that came out of it was that I convinced one of the kids to download Knoppix and give it a try.
I had no idea BT had blown up like that. I knew the Suprnova site went down all the time, but I didn't know they were getting... child-dotted? I *TOLD* them not to put the damn comic books up.
Wireless phone companies and Homeland Security officials have been resistant to an FCC proposal to require outage reports.
EXACTLY. Wireless phone companies and Homeland Security officials. It sounds like another case of the "Bush Inner Circle" doing what big business wants despite the fact that other branches of government want to do the "right thing".
There have been many examples of this recently. The Bush Administration really seems to be "open for business", and they make no apologies for it.
From the Article: Mexico's Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said he had a non-removable microchip implanted in his arm as a security measure to track him throughout Mexico and to give him access to a crime data bank.
They say they'll have access to the network, but apparently, in Soviet Mexico, THE NETWORK WILL HAVE ACCESS TO *THEM*.
Just say NO to the Mark of the Beast, kids. Especially if it's running Microsoft.
Slashdot Mirror
Vaccination? Nah, I'll wait until they put the vaccine into a brown bottle and sell it at the store in cases of 24.
I've actually thought the same thing many times (though from an 'Open Source' rather than a 'Free Sotware' viewpoint); what's the point of having a completely open-source OS and drivers if you don't have an open BIOS? From a security standpoint, it's similar to Apple's OSX -- the kernel may be open to review, but if Aqua is completely closed, there is no way you can verify that there are no backdoors in it. You can only be certain if you have 100% access to all the code running on your system and can check it yourself, and even then, it's still a bit risky (I know I'm paranoid, I'm an OpenBSD guy at heart). While it is highly unlikely, if your BIOS is closed the possibility of backdoors still exists, and will become more probable in the future as MS/Pheonix get together on their new DRM-BIOS (search old Slashdot articles to find it).
In short: Anyone in the post 9-11 world who trusts the government or big business to look out for the rights or privacy of the individual needs to stop watching the Fox Propaganda Network and see what's happening that Rupert Murdoch DOESN'T want you to know about.
... for the first poster who cries "FORK!!!"
What? Oh, jeez, it was me.
... I don't have the minimum system requirements...
I smell a Slashdotting.... Some poor IT bastard is fired.
Keep your enemies even closer? Dude, I think you need to revisit the Ballmer Monkeyboy video.
This "you can still make money" bullshit is rediculous. I can still make money giving away GPL software by working at fucking McDonalds too, but I want to sell software, so I am not going to do that. You can't say people are bad or wrong for wanting to sell software, or for saying that the GPL prevents them from doing so, cause it does. Not everyone can or wants to be a service or support company, the GPL will never be everywhere, so deal with it and quit calling FUD when people don't do things the RMS way.
In theory, and at first glance, you're correct. The GPL insists that any software you sell come with source code and the freedom to redistribute the software without fear of punishment.
Realistically, though, your fears are unfounded. My case study? Microsoft Office. What is perhaps the most pirated, bootlegged, copied, and swapped software of all time is still Microsoft's REAL long-term cash cow. Despite the fact that it is freely available to anyone who asks a friend or does a quick Kazaa, IRC or BitTorrent search, it still carries a monolithic monopoly through good times and bad. Because, and I hate to say this, it is good software. People are willing to pay for it. People buy upgrades. Nobody HAS to, it's very easily found. And there are millions of pirated copies shared out there, but because it is the defacto standard as far as office suites goes, it continues to sell. If YOUR software was as good as MS Office, GPL or no, it would be as successful.
GPL fans only WISH their software was as widely and freely distributed as MS Office.
...there would be no was OS X could have reached the state it is in now had it been developed open source. There wouldn't have been enough incentive for Apple's talented developers, and management wouldn't have been motivated to include it with Apple computers.
Except, of course, that it would drive sales of Macs, exactly as it has done. Apple wouldn't sell half the units if it weren't for OS X. And if you're worried someone else will take the source and port it to x86, that's irrelevant. The important functionality has been mostly duplicated WITHOUT having the source code; Expose, the Aqua look, the swooshy dock, brushed metal, the MenuBar... all are available elsewhere WITHOUT it being open sourced. So keeping it closed didn't help them keep a monopoly on their ideas, because once somebody sees a good idea, everyone else uses it. And that's okay. It's what we've always done, at least back to the time someone started copying Henry Ford's assembly line idea so they could compete effectively, thus creating the auto industry that gives us cheap, reliable automobiles. Society gets better by constantly taking other people's ideas ("standing on the shoulders of giants"), improving on them and reselling them. And then the other guy is forced to innovate again to stay ahead. That's capitalism. Capitalism doesn't work without competition to drive quality up and prices down. We argue against it when our favorite company is getting copied, but they copy people as well, regardless of what the zealots say. Konfabulator, Watson, Xerox Parc's GUI ideas, BSD guts, the iMac idea which an artist apparently submitted to Apple as an idea. No company is an island unto itself; everybody is affected by the innovations of others. And opening the source wouldn't help x86 or Linux or whatever duplicate the "whole widget" effect which is the main selling point of the MacOS, because the relevant code would only apply to the exact Mac hardware it was written for -- which means you gotta buy a Mac to get the "whole widget" effect, or make your own hardware and software yourself.
In short, it wouldn't hurt Apple a bit. Sure, somebody might port OS X and run it on their Toshiba, but the user wouldn't be buying a Mac anyway; they've already got a Toshiba. And the "whole widget" smoothness wouldn't be there, so it'd be more like running a crappy version of linux than the real OS X on the real hardware. They'd get bored and go back to Windows, or spring for a real Mac if they liked it enough. And Apple might sell a few more copies of iLife.
Not that I think Apple should waste their time porting OSX, I just know that some large firms don't allow closed-source, proprietary code on their servers due to security concerns. The Chinese government said they found an NSA backdoor in Windows; I would assume the NSA also ordered one put on the Mac.
True, but Canada giving us Shania Twain in a wet negligee went a LOOOONG way to earning MY forgiveness.
Well, *I* thought it was funny. BTW, thanks for giving me my first hat trick. I guess I should've posted a "fart and piss" joke like EVERYBODY ELSE.
That's why I said "Eventually". Within 5 years, all the hardware on the market should have strong, possibly encrypted, DRM built into the BIOS and God only knows what else. Saying "don't worry about it" has always been a recipe for disaster when you KNOW there are wealthy, powerful people dying to make something happen.
How's about you bundle an iPod and a copy of Finding Nemo with that? Call me.
Steve Jobs
Apple Universal Innovators, Inc.
Not if I get there first, jackoff!
Larry Ellison,
CEO, Oracle Infinitus
... sales are slowing down here on Earth, I could use some fresh meat.
Bill Gates,
CEO, Microsoft Interplanetary
I wouldn't say BSD is dying. Look at Apple. Darwin is based on FreeBSD and you can't say that xserves are not selling.
Do you have any sales figures for the XServes? I can't find any.
Good point -- and I would bet that sharing a cassette, in their eyes, is just as illegal as putting an MP3 online -- it's just not worth the effort to crack down on it because of the smaller scale. Because we're being led *by industry* into going all digital, everything and anything can be tracked, monitored, and accounted for if you put software in the right places (ISPs, etc.).
While catching tape traders is impossible, catching MP3 traders (or anyone else doing something "they" don't like online) is simply a matter of getting the right laws passed and throwing money at it until the entire net is covered with surveillance.
Eventually, they will block off all avenues of escape, and they will win, and the people -- and freedom -- will lose. Because right now you have no idea how many laws you're breaking that are currently unenforceable. Give the gov't/industry total control and total omniscience, and we'll be getting fines in the mail on a weekly basis.
Mom? Is that you? 8^P
Too late, my friend. Too late. I knew BT's cover was blown when a couple of young kids from my wife's CHURCH asked me (the guy off in the corner in the OpenBSD Blowfish T-shirt with the actual algorithm on the back standing by himself and chain-drinking coffee) if *I* had heard of BitTorrent.
... child-dotted? I *TOLD* them not to put the damn comic books up.
"It's kinda like Kazaa, but way cooler" the young pre-pimply punk in the orange hawaiian shirt said.
"Yeah, cooler", said his little brother, wearing an equally tacky spider-man shirt.
"Oh, F***!" I said.
There goes the neighbourhood.
And I need to stress, these weren't even REGULAR kids. These were CHURCH kids, the kind that's not allowed to listen to Hootie and the Blowfish because they're the Devil Music. The good thing that came out of it was that I convinced one of the kids to download Knoppix and give it a try.
I had no idea BT had blown up like that. I knew the Suprnova site went down all the time, but I didn't know they were getting
Valve? Great. Now I'll get a new revision of BitTorrent around the same time I get Counterstrike. And it'll come with a EULA.
Wireless phone companies and Homeland Security officials have been resistant to an FCC proposal to require outage reports.
EXACTLY. Wireless phone companies and Homeland Security officials. It sounds like another case of the "Bush Inner Circle" doing what big business wants despite the fact that other branches of government want to do the "right thing".
There have been many examples of this recently. The Bush Administration really seems to be "open for business", and they make no apologies for it.
... he's the guy I call to fix all this stuff for me.
Don't quote me, but I think his proper name may be Gnu/Chris.
... if you sit at the table with these guys and can't tell who the sucker is in ten minutes, it's you.
Their histories should speak for themselves. Combined, they're probably trying to get ahold of the One Ring again.
This piece of code is so sloppy, it's devious
It shouldn't be hard to find the author, he obviously works at Microsoft.
From the Article: Mexico's Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said he had a non-removable microchip implanted in his arm as a security measure to track him throughout Mexico and to give him access to a crime data bank.
They say they'll have access to the network, but apparently, in Soviet Mexico, THE NETWORK WILL HAVE ACCESS TO *THEM*.
Just say NO to the Mark of the Beast, kids. Especially if it's running Microsoft.
That's not his leg.
*NOW* how's his security?