The thing is, the business world is always interested in hearing the word "free". It's not the initial cost of Windows/Office/Exchange that's the killer - it's the annual renewal/client licensing which is fantastically complicated even if you deal with it all the time. To date, the general approach has been "well, it's free, what's the risk?". Clearly the purpose of this is to change that to "it's free, but I don't like the risk".
Time will tell how effective this shall be. But Microsoft have been saying things like this for years - unless they follow this up with a lawsuit, I can't see them being taken particularly seriously.
Code is always attributed in the free software world.
Code in general terms may be but tracking down the correct attributes for each and every patch is another matter altogether. Linus himself has said that the process for getting code into the Linux kernel was substantially tightened to fix this issue as a result of the SCO suit.
Their biggest strength has always been backward compatability. Granted, it's never 100%, but it's generally better than anyone else's. Maintaining that level of backward compatability while completely migrating to an OS with a wholly different architecture? May be theoretically possible, I wouldn't want to be on the team managing that project though. The only way I can see it being doable for anything less than silly money is including a Vista license and some virtualisation software with the next version.
It's not just that. As IT manager, I've been looking into a few new systems in my own company and a lot of stuff still won't work with Vista - stuff which is heavily deployed in business.
Example: (don't know how true this is, so take with as much salt as you think it needs) I've seen at least one report that the Cisco SSL VPN client doesn't work in Vista. That VPN client is deployed all over the place - doubtless Cisco will get an update out but until then Vista is beyond doubt a no-go.
The SCO case has proven how much staying vague about the actual violations is useful.
One of the problems with the SCO case is that the litigant is SCO. I can't think of a single live SCO installation which isn't in the process of being migrated to something else. To put it bluntly, they weren't exactly overflowing with credibility to begin with.
I agree with the GP that this is in essence the latest round in the FUD war - and a rather predictable round at that. IBM may have invented FUD but it's Microsoft who've perfected it. Time will tell how effective it is.
In all seriousness, how much would it cost Microsoft (as a percentage of their net worth) to hire, say, a team of lawyers as full-time, permanent staff (rather than retaining the services of an outside law firm)? Bear in mind that I'm sure they could find a few developers to let go if they were that short of cash;)
Er... nah, it's been updated. Last update was October (which I guess is still 6 months).
Despite being open source, vTiger tends to follow a more "cathedral"-style development model. Major releases are few and far between, minor/bugfix releases only fix the most heinous of bugs. Rather like a lot of the more expensive proprietary software out there, now I think of it. (Aside: There's plenty of expensive proprietary software out there which makes Microsoft look like a shining beacon of excellence staffed entirely by geniuses).
I think CRM has the same problem as groupware. It's never going to attract "itch-scratching" individuals because it solves a problem which individuals don't have. It's a classic example of how Open Source is not a panacea, and is certainly not a substitute for employing your own developers.
1. Does ATi (and hence AMD) have the right to opensource all the code in their drivers? If they outsourced or otherwise bought code in - maybe not. 2. What level of functionality will these drivers provide? I would point out that Matrox open sourced their drivers - but then squirreled away a number of the features in a binary HAL. 3. Open source can mean a lot of things. If you're Microsoft, for instance, "open source" can mean "you can look but you can't touch".
It's great AMD are saying this - and it's a lot more than ATi would have done - but as has already been said elsewhere in the thread, I'll believe it when I see it.
maybe the OS is built off of a network boot scenario with the initial sending of the system happening only after the handshake.
Don't know about how much security/handshaking is built into the system, but the "network boot" scenario is exactly how cable boxes work (at least with Telewest/Virgin) in the UK.
In the UK, you can't go out and buy your own cable box. You have to put up with the one they give you.
Whyever not? You know for a fact that it's not much use until it's plugged into the cable network anyway, and if it boots off the network then rolling out software upgrades is dead easy.
However, the British newspapers have it in for GPS because their staff are too stupid to be able use it themselves.
Be fair. It's probably the Daily Mail.
(Quick explanation for US folks: Take the most hysterical, written-by-borderline schizos newspaper you've got. Remove any silly stories like "Bill Clinton Ate My Hamster". Replace them with stories which condemn a group of politicians, modern society, sex before marriage or any combination of the above, written in the same tone as "Bill Clinton ate my Hamster". That's the Daily Mail).
TBH, I don't think the military has any choice in the matter.
In a warzone, who do you want to place your trust in? The person who's been trained to take responsibility for their actions or the person who's not that bothered because they can always push the blame elsewhere?
Although I suspect that 100MPH being the average speed there is a load of bull, based on what several other people have asserted about the road in question, but even if that was true, that doesn't mean that she needed to be in that lane, driving that speed.
I live in the UK.
The speed limit on motorways is officially 70mph, but the majority of motorways (at least until recently) have nothing to enforce this so it's fairly common to find stretches where even the slow lane is doing 80.
I don't know about the US, but BMW drivers have a bit of a reputation in the UK for driving like idiots. 100mph in the fast lane doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, 100mph and flashing the headlamps madly at the person in front of you who's "only" doing 95mph wouldn't surprise me at all.
Well, speaking about CRM because I've been looking for something for some time... There doesn't seem to be any such thing as a generic shop. Or if there is, there's no such thing as a generic CRM system in the opensource world. I'll use vTiger as my example as it's the best solution I've seen.
Someone always comes up with an idea which they'd like to follow through with but is somehow difficult with vTiger.
Yes, I know there's the "it's open source, modify it yourself!" argument. I took one look at the vTiger code and ran away screaming.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't code something like that up myself - but even so, I think the standards the folk behind vTiger have for what they describe as a "stable" release are a little slack. Just to put it into context, I don't consider "stable" release to mean "most of the core features are there and stable but there's a whole lot of stuff (including the "upgrade from earlier version" function) which isn't particularly stable at all, is not specifically marked as being unstable so you may not know until it's too late and hasn't been disabled for the release.
Further, I was particularly interested to note that the failure mode in much of vTiger (particularly if there's something even relatively minor amiss with the database) seems to be "return a completely blank page to the user's browser and don't log the issue".
I'm in the UK as well, but I would imagine the US has a law similar to our "driving without due care and attention" law.
The reason for specifically adding "using a mobile phone" to the law is mainly to make life easier for the prosecution.
Previously, they'd have to prove that using the mobile phone constitutes "without due care" - this kind of thing can be pretty difficult to prove unless there was some sort of an incident as a direct result.
However, they don't have to prove that using a mobile phone while driving constitutes driving without due care and attention any more. They can simply point at that piece of legislation.
or that it corresponds to the most used operating system?
Seeing as these are mostly being sold in second and third world countries where there aren't millions of people leaving school in order to work 9-5 in an office where they sit in front of a Windows PC all day, I wouldn't think that's a particularly big deal.
Both Sega and Nintendo did this with their light guns - the Menacer and the Super Scope.
Neither did particularly well because there's little point in developing a game when only a few % of a given console's owners can play it. Similarly, there's little incentive in the console owners going out and buying this addon because there aren't any games which use it.
According to Wikipedia, VVT has existed since the 1960's. The only improvement I can see (and that's from reading between the lines) is that they've developed a means of controlling it more precisely.
Be interesting to see how that pans out in the long term.
Many earlier DVD players played DVDs and not a lot else. But my current DVD player plays more or less anything which is somehow related to one of the (J|M)PEG standards, including DivX, MP3 etc. I can also put a CD full of photos in and view them on the TV - can't think why I'd want to at TV resolution but the option's there. This isn't particularly unusual in a modern DVD player.
Unless the Powers that Be make it a condition of the licensing for AACS that any device which decodes it doesn't handle raw unencrypted media - which wouldn't surprise me.
Does Windows gracefully handle the situation where a DLL which is currently in use is replaced, or will I wind up with applications calling two different versions of the DLL depending on when they started?
Because if it's the latter, no thanks. I'd rather download the updates so they're quick to apply, then do the actual application on my own terms.
In the UK, it's not a legal requirement to have a receipt. In most cases, Faulty goods == customer entitled to replacement/refund at the customer's option.
That being said, it's becoming extremely common for companies to instigate their own returns policies which pay little attention to the law and ensure that store staff training basically says "you can process a refund if, and only if, this policy is followed".
Who's going to take their local record shop to court for the sake of one lousy CD?
Slashdot Mirror
In other words, it's about FUD.
The thing is, the business world is always interested in hearing the word "free". It's not the initial cost of Windows/Office/Exchange that's the killer - it's the annual renewal/client licensing which is fantastically complicated even if you deal with it all the time. To date, the general approach has been "well, it's free, what's the risk?". Clearly the purpose of this is to change that to "it's free, but I don't like the risk".
Time will tell how effective this shall be. But Microsoft have been saying things like this for years - unless they follow this up with a lawsuit, I can't see them being taken particularly seriously.
Since when was a modern journalist interested in nailing down facts?
Code is always attributed in the free software world.
Code in general terms may be but tracking down the correct attributes for each and every patch is another matter altogether. Linus himself has said that the process for getting code into the Linux kernel was substantially tightened to fix this issue as a result of the SCO suit.
Why? What's the business benefit to Microsoft?
Their biggest strength has always been backward compatability. Granted, it's never 100%, but it's generally better than anyone else's. Maintaining that level of backward compatability while completely migrating to an OS with a wholly different architecture? May be theoretically possible, I wouldn't want to be on the team managing that project though. The only way I can see it being doable for anything less than silly money is including a Vista license and some virtualisation software with the next version.
It's not just that. As IT manager, I've been looking into a few new systems in my own company and a lot of stuff still won't work with Vista - stuff which is heavily deployed in business.
Example: (don't know how true this is, so take with as much salt as you think it needs) I've seen at least one report that the Cisco SSL VPN client doesn't work in Vista. That VPN client is deployed all over the place - doubtless Cisco will get an update out but until then Vista is beyond doubt a no-go.
The SCO case has proven how much staying vague about the actual violations is useful.
One of the problems with the SCO case is that the litigant is SCO. I can't think of a single live SCO installation which isn't in the process of being migrated to something else. To put it bluntly, they weren't exactly overflowing with credibility to begin with.
I agree with the GP that this is in essence the latest round in the FUD war - and a rather predictable round at that. IBM may have invented FUD but it's Microsoft who've perfected it. Time will tell how effective it is.
I think you undervalue the war chest.
;)
In all seriousness, how much would it cost Microsoft (as a percentage of their net worth) to hire, say, a team of lawyers as full-time, permanent staff (rather than retaining the services of an outside law firm)? Bear in mind that I'm sure they could find a few developers to let go if they were that short of cash
Er... nah, it's been updated. Last update was October (which I guess is still 6 months).
Despite being open source, vTiger tends to follow a more "cathedral"-style development model. Major releases are few and far between, minor/bugfix releases only fix the most heinous of bugs. Rather like a lot of the more expensive proprietary software out there, now I think of it. (Aside: There's plenty of expensive proprietary software out there which makes Microsoft look like a shining beacon of excellence staffed entirely by geniuses).
I think CRM has the same problem as groupware. It's never going to attract "itch-scratching" individuals because it solves a problem which individuals don't have. It's a classic example of how Open Source is not a panacea, and is certainly not a substitute for employing your own developers.
1. Does ATi (and hence AMD) have the right to opensource all the code in their drivers? If they outsourced or otherwise bought code in - maybe not.
2. What level of functionality will these drivers provide? I would point out that Matrox open sourced their drivers - but then squirreled away a number of the features in a binary HAL.
3. Open source can mean a lot of things. If you're Microsoft, for instance, "open source" can mean "you can look but you can't touch".
It's great AMD are saying this - and it's a lot more than ATi would have done - but as has already been said elsewhere in the thread, I'll believe it when I see it.
maybe the OS is built off of a network boot scenario with the initial sending of the system happening only after the handshake.
Don't know about how much security/handshaking is built into the system, but the "network boot" scenario is exactly how cable boxes work (at least with Telewest/Virgin) in the UK.
In the UK, you can't go out and buy your own cable box. You have to put up with the one they give you.
Whyever not? You know for a fact that it's not much use until it's plugged into the cable network anyway, and if it boots off the network then rolling out software upgrades is dead easy.
However, the British newspapers have it in for GPS because their staff are too stupid to be able use it themselves.
Be fair. It's probably the Daily Mail.
(Quick explanation for US folks: Take the most hysterical, written-by-borderline schizos newspaper you've got. Remove any silly stories like "Bill Clinton Ate My Hamster". Replace them with stories which condemn a group of politicians, modern society, sex before marriage or any combination of the above, written in the same tone as "Bill Clinton ate my Hamster". That's the Daily Mail).
TBH, I don't think the military has any choice in the matter.
In a warzone, who do you want to place your trust in? The person who's been trained to take responsibility for their actions or the person who's not that bothered because they can always push the blame elsewhere?
Although I suspect that 100MPH being the average speed there is a load of bull, based on what several other people have asserted about the road in question, but even if that was true, that doesn't mean that she needed to be in that lane, driving that speed.
I live in the UK.
The speed limit on motorways is officially 70mph, but the majority of motorways (at least until recently) have nothing to enforce this so it's fairly common to find stretches where even the slow lane is doing 80.
I don't know about the US, but BMW drivers have a bit of a reputation in the UK for driving like idiots. 100mph in the fast lane doesn't surprise me at all. In fact, 100mph and flashing the headlamps madly at the person in front of you who's "only" doing 95mph wouldn't surprise me at all.
I had a GPS in a hire car once. I didn't like the route it suggested, so I decided to use the motorway (freeway for our US cousins) instead.
What did it do? Despite the screen showing that it knew full well where I was, it spent 5 whole minutes saying "If possible, make a U-turn".
Sooner or later you just know some idiot is going to blame driving the wrong way down the motorway on a satnav which told them to make a U-turn.
Well, speaking about CRM because I've been looking for something for some time... There doesn't seem to be any such thing as a generic shop. Or if there is, there's no such thing as a generic CRM system in the opensource world. I'll use vTiger as my example as it's the best solution I've seen.
Someone always comes up with an idea which they'd like to follow through with but is somehow difficult with vTiger.
Yes, I know there's the "it's open source, modify it yourself!" argument. I took one look at the vTiger code and ran away screaming.
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't code something like that up myself - but even so, I think the standards the folk behind vTiger have for what they describe as a "stable" release are a little slack. Just to put it into context, I don't consider "stable" release to mean "most of the core features are there and stable but there's a whole lot of stuff (including the "upgrade from earlier version" function) which isn't particularly stable at all, is not specifically marked as being unstable so you may not know until it's too late and hasn't been disabled for the release.
Further, I was particularly interested to note that the failure mode in much of vTiger (particularly if there's something even relatively minor amiss with the database) seems to be "return a completely blank page to the user's browser and don't log the issue".
From their description of the LOCAD-PTS unit, I'm reminded of the psi-scan in Red Dwarf...
"Here are the results [of the scan] and we're going to.... live"
I'm in the UK as well, but I would imagine the US has a law similar to our "driving without due care and attention" law.
The reason for specifically adding "using a mobile phone" to the law is mainly to make life easier for the prosecution.
Previously, they'd have to prove that using the mobile phone constitutes "without due care" - this kind of thing can be pretty difficult to prove unless there was some sort of an incident as a direct result.
However, they don't have to prove that using a mobile phone while driving constitutes driving without due care and attention any more. They can simply point at that piece of legislation.
or that it corresponds to the most used operating system?
Seeing as these are mostly being sold in second and third world countries where there aren't millions of people leaving school in order to work 9-5 in an office where they sit in front of a Windows PC all day, I wouldn't think that's a particularly big deal.
Presumably, the President would like to have some authority to spend funds for intelligence purposes.
<cheapshot>
Since when has Dubya shown any intelligence?
</cheapshot>
All joking aside, "the President would like to have some authority"??! He's already decided he's got the authority to do what he damn well pleases.
Not just Sega.
Both Sega and Nintendo did this with their light guns - the Menacer and the Super Scope.
Neither did particularly well because there's little point in developing a game when only a few % of a given console's owners can play it. Similarly, there's little incentive in the console owners going out and buying this addon because there aren't any games which use it.
Nothing spectacular about changing the timing on the valves depending on how the engine's being driven:
g
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_valve_timin
According to Wikipedia, VVT has existed since the 1960's. The only improvement I can see (and that's from reading between the lines) is that they've developed a means of controlling it more precisely.
Be interesting to see how that pans out in the long term.
Many earlier DVD players played DVDs and not a lot else. But my current DVD player plays more or less anything which is somehow related to one of the (J|M)PEG standards, including DivX, MP3 etc. I can also put a CD full of photos in and view them on the TV - can't think why I'd want to at TV resolution but the option's there. This isn't particularly unusual in a modern DVD player.
Unless the Powers that Be make it a condition of the licensing for AACS that any device which decodes it doesn't handle raw unencrypted media - which wouldn't surprise me.
Does Windows gracefully handle the situation where a DLL which is currently in use is replaced, or will I wind up with applications calling two different versions of the DLL depending on when they started?
Because if it's the latter, no thanks. I'd rather download the updates so they're quick to apply, then do the actual application on my own terms.
In the UK, it's not a legal requirement to have a receipt. In most cases, Faulty goods == customer entitled to replacement/refund at the customer's option.
That being said, it's becoming extremely common for companies to instigate their own returns policies which pay little attention to the law and ensure that store staff training basically says "you can process a refund if, and only if, this policy is followed".
Who's going to take their local record shop to court for the sake of one lousy CD?
I'm +12h from home right now
Oh, so you have to deal with the traffic in Bristol too?