Without further independent research that confirms this data, I won't believe it... As my contribution to mankind, I will be donating my time to this endeavor this afternoon, right after work... anyone else care to volunteer?
I have the box for Suse Linux Professional still sitting around (because I'm a slob) and the sticker on the front says $79.99 (USD). I'm lazy, so let's call it 90 bucks.
What did I get for that 90 bucks? An OS that I have been able to successfully install on two computers. I'm so giddy with the installation success, I'm thinking about raising three more computers "from the dead" to install the OS on them...
And, by the way, did I really need to pay the money for SuSe Linux Pro? Probably not... I'm too lazy to get cable modem, where I could have gotten a Linux distro for free.
For me, the important thing is that the OS works (damn well, thank you very much...) Even at the price I paid (for a "free" product), it was well worth replacing Windows with.
If one looks at just the two computers I have installed SuSe Linux Pro on, where looking at 45 bucks per installation (which matches the supposed MS price).... Not to mention Open Office, etc. The fact that I can throw this distro on as many computers as I choose? Hell.... where's the cost?
To me, the $45 for an MS OS is like getting a quarter-pounder from McDonald's for five bucks. For the same price, you can get a Filet Mignon.
And, oh yeah, did I mention it's "all-you-can-eat" Filet Mignon night?
I think they are keying more off of the placement of the "X", as opposed to the 86... (or, possibly, the string that includes "X" and "Free"... thinking you're searching for free rated X stuff).
"86" is most commonly used in food service as a shorthand to say that something is not in stock (i.e. "86 Miller Lite bottles").
Or, maybe the MSN search is so smart, it realized (even when I didn't) that I was looking for dirty pictures of Agent 86 from Get Smart...
I can still get it (though it's getting slow), so here ya go:
Darl Goes to Harvard - My First Quick Impressions
Monday, February 02 2004 @ 08:48 PM EST
I watched the webcast and while I lost the stream once or twice, I heard the bulk of it. No doubt others will fill in the blanks, and I took some pictures off the screen which will at least give you a flavor when I get them up. Soon.
The big news is that they say they will start to sue copyright end users by February 18. The other news is that he asked the audience if they had gotten infected by MyDoom, and he pointed to one guy who beautifully answered, "No, I use Linux, so I wasn't affected," and the room laughed. Darl wasn't happy about that and it was clear he didn't like the questions about the ABI files. He said that Linus claimed only two, and there were the rest they can sue over, though they still plan to contest Linus' claims in court.
Someone mentioned an article that had lessened his credibility on the other ABI files, that it had said it looked like they had distributed them under the GPL. And it was like he turned dark and stormy and paced and tried not to show his anger. But it showed. Then he said that the BSDi settlement was about those same header files, and they know what is in that sealed settlement and we don't, but there were three kinds of files addressed in that settlement: files that had to be removed, files that had to have copyright notices put on them, and files that were ok. They claim that the files they will be suing over lack the copyright notices, plus some files that were supposed to be removed, IIRC. And the DMCA says it's a violation to strip off copyright information, so I gather they intend to go after end users for "stripping off" copyright information on those header files. Ridiculous and cynical as that may sound, that is their strained plan. No doubt they figure the DMCA gives them muscles that AT&T didn't have back when the original case was before the courts. But those are the files. Sontag hinted that they might add copyright claims to the IBM case over those same header files at some point.
My overall impression was that they were very uncomfortable. It began with calls for civility, which turned out not to be necessary. Everyone was polite. But clearly Harvard had gotten a lot of complaints, judging from their remarks. They have invited Chris Stone of Novell to speak there in three weeks on February 23. Details will be on their website.
They continued to repeat the same untrue "facts" about the GPL, that it forces you to give your software away free, blah blah. I hardly think explaining it one more time will help them, since it's clearly volitional. They've got their story and they're sticking to it. Darl said when you go to court, the rubber hits the road. I assume he means by that you have to get it actually sorted out with facts. He was asked how he can sue without having established copyrights, but he danced around without answering that directly. No doubt that rubber will hit the road when he sues the first end user.
Clearly they have something in that settlement agreement, which Noorda was a party to, and the rest of us were not, and they plan on springing it on a startled and totally innocent end user soon, who will be befuddled as to how he is responsible for complying with a sealed agreement he isn't a party to and doesn't have a clue what it says. Of course, they don't tell you what it says. They would rather surprise you. Well, good luck, cowboys. We'll see how it plays in a court of law.
He tried to answer Eben Moglen's illustration about going to Barnes and Noble and buying a book and having SCO leap into your living room and say, I'm suing you for reading that book. He said it's more like you get the book without paying for it and then you make copies and give them to 500 friends. He said that is how it is with Linux. Companies get one copy and make tons more. The part he misses is that the writers of the code have no problem with that,
So, after we're done with the $4300 machine (which, arguably, is cool because you see these OSes at the top of their game), how about a benchmark that is the antithesis of this? What can all the "experts" do given a $430 machine? (Of course, a benchmark against Windows would be in order... and the price of whatever version of Windows is running should be included)
If one of the reasons to run the benchmark is to show people how great F/OSS is, "round 2" seems like a natural. After all, don't we all know some people who have a couple of heavy paperweights sitting around? Wouldn't more people be willing to try something other than Windows if they saw that their old crappy box ran just as fast as their new shiny WinXP box?
Slashdot Mirror
yada yada yada welcome our overlords blah blah blah sedna.
Did I forget anything from the ObSimpsons quote?
Without further independent research that confirms this data, I won't believe it... As my contribution to mankind, I will be donating my time to this endeavor this afternoon, right after work... anyone else care to volunteer?
I have the box for Suse Linux Professional still sitting around (because I'm a slob) and the sticker on the front says $79.99 (USD). I'm lazy, so let's call it 90 bucks.
What did I get for that 90 bucks? An OS that I have been able to successfully install on two computers. I'm so giddy with the installation success, I'm thinking about raising three more computers "from the dead" to install the OS on them...
And, by the way, did I really need to pay the money for SuSe Linux Pro? Probably not... I'm too lazy to get cable modem, where I could have gotten a Linux distro for free.
For me, the important thing is that the OS works (damn well, thank you very much...) Even at the price I paid (for a "free" product), it was well worth replacing Windows with.
If one looks at just the two computers I have installed SuSe Linux Pro on, where looking at 45 bucks per installation (which matches the supposed MS price).... Not to mention Open Office, etc. The fact that I can throw this distro on as many computers as I choose? Hell.... where's the cost?
To me, the $45 for an MS OS is like getting a quarter-pounder from McDonald's for five bucks. For the same price, you can get a Filet Mignon.
And, oh yeah, did I mention it's "all-you-can-eat" Filet Mignon night?
The "ever-pending" lawsuits remind me of the sign you see in some bars:
Free beer (tomorrow)
From the article:
"'We have never had vulnerabilities exploited before the patch was known,' he said."
and:
"Mr Aucsmith said he could only think of one instance when a vulnerability was exploited before a patch was available."
Either I am missing something subtle about the difference between the words known and available, or his first statement is obviously false.
I think they are keying more off of the placement of the "X", as opposed to the 86... (or, possibly, the string that includes "X" and "Free"... thinking you're searching for free rated X stuff).
"86" is most commonly used in food service as a shorthand to say that something is not in stock (i.e. "86 Miller Lite bottles").
Or, maybe the MSN search is so smart, it realized (even when I didn't) that I was looking for dirty pictures of Agent 86 from Get Smart...
Darl Goes to Harvard - My First Quick Impressions
Monday, February 02 2004 @ 08:48 PM EST
I watched the webcast and while I lost the stream once or twice, I heard the bulk of it. No doubt others will fill in the blanks, and I took some pictures off the screen which will at least give you a flavor when I get them up. Soon.
The big news is that they say they will start to sue copyright end users by February 18. The other news is that he asked the audience if they had gotten infected by MyDoom, and he pointed to one guy who beautifully answered, "No, I use Linux, so I wasn't affected," and the room laughed. Darl wasn't happy about that and it was clear he didn't like the questions about the ABI files. He said that Linus claimed only two, and there were the rest they can sue over, though they still plan to contest Linus' claims in court.
Someone mentioned an article that had lessened his credibility on the other ABI files, that it had said it looked like they had distributed them under the GPL. And it was like he turned dark and stormy and paced and tried not to show his anger. But it showed. Then he said that the BSDi settlement was about those same header files, and they know what is in that sealed settlement and we don't, but there were three kinds of files addressed in that settlement: files that had to be removed, files that had to have copyright notices put on them, and files that were ok. They claim that the files they will be suing over lack the copyright notices, plus some files that were supposed to be removed, IIRC. And the DMCA says it's a violation to strip off copyright information, so I gather they intend to go after end users for "stripping off" copyright information on those header files. Ridiculous and cynical as that may sound, that is their strained plan. No doubt they figure the DMCA gives them muscles that AT&T didn't have back when the original case was before the courts. But those are the files. Sontag hinted that they might add copyright claims to the IBM case over those same header files at some point.
My overall impression was that they were very uncomfortable. It began with calls for civility, which turned out not to be necessary. Everyone was polite. But clearly Harvard had gotten a lot of complaints, judging from their remarks. They have invited Chris Stone of Novell to speak there in three weeks on February 23. Details will be on their website.
They continued to repeat the same untrue "facts" about the GPL, that it forces you to give your software away free, blah blah. I hardly think explaining it one more time will help them, since it's clearly volitional. They've got their story and they're sticking to it. Darl said when you go to court, the rubber hits the road. I assume he means by that you have to get it actually sorted out with facts. He was asked how he can sue without having established copyrights, but he danced around without answering that directly. No doubt that rubber will hit the road when he sues the first end user.
Clearly they have something in that settlement agreement, which Noorda was a party to, and the rest of us were not, and they plan on springing it on a startled and totally innocent end user soon, who will be befuddled as to how he is responsible for complying with a sealed agreement he isn't a party to and doesn't have a clue what it says. Of course, they don't tell you what it says. They would rather surprise you. Well, good luck, cowboys. We'll see how it plays in a court of law.
He tried to answer Eben Moglen's illustration about going to Barnes and Noble and buying a book and having SCO leap into your living room and say, I'm suing you for reading that book. He said it's more like you get the book without paying for it and then you make copies and give them to 500 friends. He said that is how it is with Linux. Companies get one copy and make tons more. The part he misses is that the writers of the code have no problem with that,
If one of the reasons to run the benchmark is to show people how great F/OSS is, "round 2" seems like a natural. After all, don't we all know some people who have a couple of heavy paperweights sitting around? Wouldn't more people be willing to try something other than Windows if they saw that their old crappy box ran just as fast as their new shiny WinXP box?