"Coercion: install WGA or run the risk of a compromised system."
I suppose my bank also "coerces" me when I have to login to their website or risk not being able to access my bank account. Because it's the same concept.
I see your anecdotal evidence and raise you my own.
I installed Windows 7 on my 3 year old laptop and Windows Update automatically installed ALL of the drivers. When I installed Ubuntu on the same laptop, it took three days of Googling to figure out that the kernel driver for my wireless card was crap and I had to download and build some patched version off a website in Russian.
"some crappy 'validation' software decides that I'm a criminal"
Not really relevant, but license agreement violations are civil matters.
"I care about the whole concept of being treated as a criminal"
How exactly is authentication "being treated as a criminal"? Do you get pissed off at every website that wants you to login (aka authenticate yourself)? The whole point is to figure out who you are so that they know you aren't "a criminal" and don't treat you as such. (Actually, "unauthorized user" is a better term than "criminal".) It's a hell of a lot easier to only let in legitimate users then to let in everyone and then figure out who to kick out.
"companies who decide to prevent software I've purchased from running until I beg them to fix their god-damn piece of crap 'validation'/'activation'/DRM bullshit"
I'm very curious as to what the heck you're trying to do with your computer where you're running into DRM issues all the time. I install all kinds of apps and games and never have run into a problem.
"to the extent that I'm now doing my best to completely eliminate Windows and commercial software which contains this kind of shit from my home."
God forbid that software authors try to make a buck off their work. They should just give it to us all for free! Like the FOSS projects! That's all good, but a lot of FOSS sucks ass. That's one of the reasons I came back to Windows after three years of fucking with Ubuntu and all the half-ass apps (when compared to commercial offerings) that required too much effort to be productive with. (Excluded from "half-ass apps" are the GIMP and OOo.)
I hate how baseless comments like this get modded up simply for saying that "corporations are chipping away at out privacy". How is MS chipping away at your privacy with WGA?
"You wanted RedHat to continue to monitor your system and provide you with instant fixes through their premium update channel, which you had paid for, even after you stopped paying for it."
You mean like how Microsoft does through Windows Update after you buy the OS the one time? For 12 years after the OS is released? (XP 2002-2014)
It's not without it's uses. My brother-in-law bought a few "really cheap" copies of XP over the internet and it turned out they were pirated (imagine that). God knows what nasty-ware may have been added to the installation.
Microsoft is not wrong in calling pirated software a security risk. You don't know what else you might be installing, what backdoors it might have open, and who it might be sending data to. The only way to be sure that there's no malware on your OS is to get it from the source. The funny thing is that Linux fans will even do MD5 hash checks on their downloads to make sure that it's legit...but a little app from MS that attempts to do something similar that gets slammed.
IT departments are going to keep everything patched, and individuals aren't going to do it to themselves on their LANS. Between firewalls and NATs, it's not going to happen over the internet. Really, the only situation that I can imagine this happening is perhaps on a university network.
Not having read the terms of an agreement is not necessarily a way out of the agreement. For example, if you click an "I Agree" button when presented with a license, you are then bound by the license even if you didn't read it. (There's some case law for this, but I'm not sure if it applies in all states. We went over it briefly in a business law class that I took. You can read more on the Wikipedia page about EULAs.)
A small vocal handful of people actually give a shit about this whole thing. The rest of us are happy with the apology from Bezos and the refund/restore of the book. They're not going to do this again.
Cut the bullshit. The car analogy works just fine. It's their fucking program, they can sell it to you how they like. You're free not to buy it. That's how it works, and IT'S GOOD THAT WAY.
I despise people like you who think that you have a right to something that someone else has made. You don't. If you want it, you get it on their terms. End of story.
Photoshop Elements is a CHEAP version of a more EXPENSIVE piece of software that includes the features that 95% of users want/need. It. Makes. Good. Sense. The everyday user gets a decent program for a price they like. Professionals get additional features that they need for the higher price.
It's not an acceptable practice? That's an unsupportable assertion, as it's a very common marketing practice called "product differentiation". You offer different products to different target groups because not everyone wants/needs the same things, and you can increase profits by tayloring your product to those groups. It's like having the standard model of a car and the deluxe model. You aren't going to start bitching about how it's not fair that car manufactures "force" you to pay more for a car with more features, are you?
1. Why would you have to junk your machine just because XP isn't supported by MS? And MS forces everyone to buy high-end PC's? Ever heard of "netbooks"? Or cheap notebooks? Or sub $300 desktops?
2. Reactivate XP 10 times? That's called something-is-wrong-with-your-computer.
3. Companies are free to market their products how they want (in most cases). Besides, you just described every trial version/shareware program out there. The full functionality exists, but you have to pay to get to it.
Slashdot Mirror
When was the last time that you saw a large-scale worm attack?
(I'm actually curious because I can't remember. Seems like it's been years.)
"Coercion: install WGA or run the risk of a compromised system."
I suppose my bank also "coerces" me when I have to login to their website or risk not being able to access my bank account. Because it's the same concept.
I'm sorry, but the demand for Oracle database software isn't really on the same level as Windows.
I see your anecdotal evidence and raise you my own.
I installed Windows 7 on my 3 year old laptop and Windows Update automatically installed ALL of the drivers. When I installed Ubuntu on the same laptop, it took three days of Googling to figure out that the kernel driver for my wireless card was crap and I had to download and build some patched version off a website in Russian.
You can find tales of woe and angst about any OS.
Insightful? This is pure ranting bullshit.
"some crappy 'validation' software decides that I'm a criminal"
Not really relevant, but license agreement violations are civil matters.
"I care about the whole concept of being treated as a criminal"
How exactly is authentication "being treated as a criminal"? Do you get pissed off at every website that wants you to login (aka authenticate yourself)? The whole point is to figure out who you are so that they know you aren't "a criminal" and don't treat you as such. (Actually, "unauthorized user" is a better term than "criminal".) It's a hell of a lot easier to only let in legitimate users then to let in everyone and then figure out who to kick out.
"companies who decide to prevent software I've purchased from running until I beg them to fix their god-damn piece of crap 'validation'/'activation'/DRM bullshit"
I'm very curious as to what the heck you're trying to do with your computer where you're running into DRM issues all the time. I install all kinds of apps and games and never have run into a problem.
"to the extent that I'm now doing my best to completely eliminate Windows and commercial software which contains this kind of shit from my home."
God forbid that software authors try to make a buck off their work. They should just give it to us all for free! Like the FOSS projects! That's all good, but a lot of FOSS sucks ass. That's one of the reasons I came back to Windows after three years of fucking with Ubuntu and all the half-ass apps (when compared to commercial offerings) that required too much effort to be productive with. (Excluded from "half-ass apps" are the GIMP and OOo.)
I don't care what you "believe" WGA is...prove it or shut up.
I hate how baseless comments like this get modded up simply for saying that "corporations are chipping away at out privacy". How is MS chipping away at your privacy with WGA?
What is that a problem?
"You wanted RedHat to continue to monitor your system and provide you with instant fixes through their premium update channel, which you had paid for, even after you stopped paying for it."
You mean like how Microsoft does through Windows Update after you buy the OS the one time? For 12 years after the OS is released? (XP 2002-2014)
Wow. overreact much?
It's not without it's uses. My brother-in-law bought a few "really cheap" copies of XP over the internet and it turned out they were pirated (imagine that). God knows what nasty-ware may have been added to the installation.
Microsoft is not wrong in calling pirated software a security risk. You don't know what else you might be installing, what backdoors it might have open, and who it might be sending data to. The only way to be sure that there's no malware on your OS is to get it from the source. The funny thing is that Linux fans will even do MD5 hash checks on their downloads to make sure that it's legit...but a little app from MS that attempts to do something similar that gets slammed.
If Google's service isn't sufficient for your research needs, THEN DON'T FUCKING USE IT. Dear god....
Pft...it'll be patched whenever the next update cycle is and will be irrelevant. Yeah, it's bad, but it will be short lived.
IT departments are going to keep everything patched, and individuals aren't going to do it to themselves on their LANS. Between firewalls and NATs, it's not going to happen over the internet. Really, the only situation that I can imagine this happening is perhaps on a university network.
Not having read the terms of an agreement is not necessarily a way out of the agreement. For example, if you click an "I Agree" button when presented with a license, you are then bound by the license even if you didn't read it. (There's some case law for this, but I'm not sure if it applies in all states. We went over it briefly in a business law class that I took. You can read more on the Wikipedia page about EULAs.)
Actually, in most cases, they do have a right to do all of those things that you mentioned...you just didn't read the license agreements.
A small vocal handful of people actually give a shit about this whole thing. The rest of us are happy with the apology from Bezos and the refund/restore of the book. They're not going to do this again.
Apparently you're wrong in this case because there was sufficient evidence of their negligence to cost them $32 million.
Hi, this is Ignorance here. How do FPS apply to web page rendering?
Thanks.
"Please cite to me which Congressional bill grants the FCC authority over telephone lines."
COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934:
"AN ACT To provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio, and for other purposes."
That's the second line in the Act...wouldn't kill you to look before you speak.
"Please cite to me which Congressional bill grants the FCC authority over telephone lines."
Read the second line.
"AN ACT To provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio, and for other purposes."
Was that so hard? Took a whole 5 seconds of googling.
That's because your ISP was throttling your connection.
"Are they free to bait-and-switch? Free to advertise falsely? Free to do any number of other unethical business practices?"
Now you're bringing in baseless, wild assertions to help your argument. It's not working. Sorry.
"and whatever a corporation wants to do should be allowed"
LOL, I love how it all comes back to corporations. I thought we were talking about copyright holders, which can be anyone, individual or corporation.
Cut the bullshit. The car analogy works just fine. It's their fucking program, they can sell it to you how they like. You're free not to buy it. That's how it works, and IT'S GOOD THAT WAY.
I despise people like you who think that you have a right to something that someone else has made. You don't. If you want it, you get it on their terms. End of story.
Photoshop Elements is a CHEAP version of a more EXPENSIVE piece of software that includes the features that 95% of users want/need. It. Makes. Good. Sense. The everyday user gets a decent program for a price they like. Professionals get additional features that they need for the higher price.
It's not an acceptable practice? That's an unsupportable assertion, as it's a very common marketing practice called "product differentiation". You offer different products to different target groups because not everyone wants/needs the same things, and you can increase profits by tayloring your product to those groups. It's like having the standard model of a car and the deluxe model. You aren't going to start bitching about how it's not fair that car manufactures "force" you to pay more for a car with more features, are you?
1. Why would you have to junk your machine just because XP isn't supported by MS? And MS forces everyone to buy high-end PC's? Ever heard of "netbooks"? Or cheap notebooks? Or sub $300 desktops?
2. Reactivate XP 10 times? That's called something-is-wrong-with-your-computer.
3. Companies are free to market their products how they want (in most cases). Besides, you just described every trial version/shareware program out there. The full functionality exists, but you have to pay to get to it.