"Saying that the majority of people demanded it so all further discussion is over is nothing but tyranny."
No one said that the discussion is over when the majority makes a decision...it's just that society doesn't function if you wait around for every last naysayer to stop bitching.
And btw, your analogy is terrible. Comparing asking for broadband to denying civil rights? Seriously? Go drink more coffee.
Bah, your narrow view of government services neglects the fact that we all benefit from roads, public education, police, a postal system, etc whether we use it or not. We are not islands, as much as the libertarians might like to pretend that we are.
If you think that only the users of a service should pay for it, do you think that children should pay for their schooling? Should crime victims pay for the police? Should we charge natural disaster victims for aid such as that provided by FEMA? I doubt you think that, because you understand that those things are good for us all.
What exactly is it that you think government is, other than a group of people making decisions for themselves? That said, every time "government' provides a service, it's nothing more than a group of people providing something to themselves. Go spread your libertarian nonsense somewhere else.
Microsoft goes crazy over software piracy? LOL! They make a few light handed moves that only deter people who know absolutely nothing. I've never known anyone who had issues finding and using a pirated copy of Windows or Office. I tend to think that they don't really care as long as people are using their software.
"Oh, well, if everyone is doing it, it must be okay! "
Yes, because in this case everyone is doing it because it's LEGAL and right. I have absolutely no problem with anyone, corporation or person, minimizing their tax liability.
"Washington has no state personal income tax, so it may not be as big as you surmise."
Oh, they have no personal income tax so they must fund their government with faerie dust and unicorn tears, right? Give me a fucking break. They're all paying taxes (sales tax, property tax, business tax, etc), and MS is a big part of that.
and I mainly use Windows these days...but this seems like a none issue. If someone can get their executable on your system, I'm sure that they can come up with a better way of running it than having you ldd it. I mean, the fact that it's there means that you've downloaded untrustworthy software and are probably just going to run whatever it is anyway, and probably as root if it asks for it.
It's not just the spelling. SPARC has a C, spark does not. SPARC is in all caps, sparkfun is all lowercase (in their logo). The whole name is sparkfun, not just spark.
How would it prevent Google from putting ads in an OS? The patent doesn't give them exclusive rights to the concept of putting advertising in an OS, it only protects their method for doing it.
Slashdot Mirror
And Avahi, which messes up people who happen to use a .local domain on their networks (and I've yet to see a good use for MDNS).
Ubuntu comes with all kinds of shit that you don't want, but there's no other shit available, so you just use it.
Everyone knows that knives make you run faster.
"the Fiber Project is not a 'utility or other public convenience from which a revenue is or may be derived.' "
One might wonder why TDS wants to provide a service where no "revenue is or may be derived."
Help me out here...what shape is a pipe?
I don't think that the politicians are going to be the ones A) running the ISP and B) installing fiber lines.
They both deliver packets.
"Saying that the majority of people demanded it so all further discussion is over is nothing but tyranny."
No one said that the discussion is over when the majority makes a decision...it's just that society doesn't function if you wait around for every last naysayer to stop bitching.
And btw, your analogy is terrible. Comparing asking for broadband to denying civil rights? Seriously? Go drink more coffee.
If you're going to sit there and say "False" then you'd better have some evidence that shows that gas taxes are sufficient for maintenance costs.
Bah, your narrow view of government services neglects the fact that we all benefit from roads, public education, police, a postal system, etc whether we use it or not. We are not islands, as much as the libertarians might like to pretend that we are.
If you think that only the users of a service should pay for it, do you think that children should pay for their schooling? Should crime victims pay for the police? Should we charge natural disaster victims for aid such as that provided by FEMA? I doubt you think that, because you understand that those things are good for us all.
What exactly is it that you think government is, other than a group of people making decisions for themselves? That said, every time "government' provides a service, it's nothing more than a group of people providing something to themselves. Go spread your libertarian nonsense somewhere else.
This explains why the average Slashdotter has such disregard for copyright!
Microsoft goes crazy over software piracy? LOL! They make a few light handed moves that only deter people who know absolutely nothing. I've never known anyone who had issues finding and using a pirated copy of Windows or Office. I tend to think that they don't really care as long as people are using their software.
"Oh, well, if everyone is doing it, it must be okay! "
Yes, because in this case everyone is doing it because it's LEGAL and right. I have absolutely no problem with anyone, corporation or person, minimizing their tax liability.
MS receives federal funds? How? Washington state also receives a ton of federal money...so maybe they should call it even.
"Washington has no state personal income tax, so it may not be as big as you surmise."
Oh, they have no personal income tax so they must fund their government with faerie dust and unicorn tears, right? Give me a fucking break. They're all paying taxes (sales tax, property tax, business tax, etc), and MS is a big part of that.
and I mainly use Windows these days...but this seems like a none issue. If someone can get their executable on your system, I'm sure that they can come up with a better way of running it than having you ldd it. I mean, the fact that it's there means that you've downloaded untrustworthy software and are probably just going to run whatever it is anyway, and probably as root if it asks for it.
It's not just the spelling. SPARC has a C, spark does not. SPARC is in all caps, sparkfun is all lowercase (in their logo). The whole name is sparkfun, not just spark.
IMHO, it's the c and the all caps lettering that makes their trademark distinctive.
How would it prevent Google from putting ads in an OS? The patent doesn't give them exclusive rights to the concept of putting advertising in an OS, it only protects their method for doing it.
No one else will be able to do it the way specified in the patent. You can't patent the concept of putting advertising in an OS, just a method.
"True libertarians"
I love when people use the word "true" to refer to a subgroup within a larger group that more agrees with their personal beliefs.
I might agree with you, but their trademark is "SPARC", not "Spark".
Wait, don't you mean "Spark" servers?
My point was that ALL OEM's tend to work closely with hardware manufacturers to ensure OS compatibility. The exception might be smaller/bargain OEMs.