"It is too late in the game for them to get all grumbly, they've released the spec to ECMA and failed to excersise diligence in regard to the class definitions."
What does failed to excersize diligence mean? This isn't trademarks, like Kleenex. For example, Sun is very clear about its positions on Java and OpenSolaris. There is no amibguity that all of Java's APIs can be implemented and that Sun gets involved for conformance testing and licensing the brand. OpenSolaris will be released under the CDDL, complete with a patent license for that code. People can debate the practicalities of all this, but they can at least know where they stand legally.
There is no such clarity with.NET, and the ECMA standard covers only a portion of the platform. Other software for interoperating with Windows suffers from this, such as Samba, whose developers get some insulation by being based outside the USA.
It is likely you are smarter and/or better educated about the issues than most people in Microsoft's target markets. And it could be luck, too. Out of my immediate friends and family who have Windows XP, three have had worms installed on their computers. They are average computer users whose life revolves around everything but the computer. It takes a lot of prodding to get them to update their virus software or anything for that matter. They generally don't quite understand that there are automated software programs out there who can scan thousands of computers for open ports and exploit known vulnerabilities without them clicking on anything.
I know about these things because I read computer-oriented news and see the queries in my firewall log files. The fact that there are still queries for Windows filesharing, for example, shows that the classic attacks must still work enough for the crackers to keep trying. That's why I like having OpenBSD and pf between my network and the Internet. I don't know anyone but myself who has the patience to go through the touble of configuring a firewall to the point that I do. It really shouldn't be this way, but even some of the pre-packaged firewalls out there have stupid default passwords or technical support holes in them.
IMO, Windows on the Internet is a very good example of why anarchy is a bad model for society. Protecting one's self shouldn't take such a huge amount of time and resources as it does with respect to networking.
You mean because someone (SunMink? who s/he?) writes a blog saying they promise to be nice the "FUD mongers are wrong". Comeon.
SunMink is Simon Phipps, an executive at Sun who writes on the same level as Groklaw. Not knee-jerk stuff, not OSRM insurance sales pitches.
Sun is populating OpenSolaris with its own patent portfolio via the CDDL to protect it from litigation. OpenSolaris will have its own IP asset base to put it on par with other patent holders, so, if someone decides to sue, OpenSolaris is very defensible. This is really a good position to be in.
Sun competes in the real world. They have to face the realities of software patents--for better and worse. They exist among other massive IP holders like Microsoft, IBM, HP, GE, etc. They want to make sure OpenSolaris is given what it needs to survive in a world where patents and "cease and desist" letters are like nuclear weapons. Also, they are taking the mangled and long-worn minefield of UNIX' history, and opening it once and for all. This is not trivial stuff!
You have to ask yourself what Sun really has to gain by becoming losers like SCO. Is pissing off the world something to gain?!? Let them prove themselves in their actions. Historically, when has Sun ever sued an open source project? Why are they a Red Hat and SuSE reseller? Why is their Java Desktop System supported on both Linux and Solaris? Why does their SunRay server software now run on Linux? Why does their Java Enterprise software run on Linux? Why are Sun selling a million Linux desktop systems to China?
...it is the fault of the spyware/virus writers - they just found exploits in MS. So lets pass the blame accordingly.
Okay. Microsoft Windows is like an expensive car parked in a bad part of town with the door unlocked and the keys in the ignition. The only thing lacking is the owner's signature on the title showing the transfer of ownership. Where Microsoft comes in is that it is not completely the owners fault: the car locks don't work all the time and the key is welded in place.
There really are no "safe surfing" guidelines for new users. Do PC suppliers walk the user through buying the proper AV software and a dedicated firewall box for every sale? Do they or Microsoft tell people up-front to avoid websites with ActiveX? Wasn't it only recently that Windows XP firewall was even active by default?
I feel fairly safe on the Internet--but I run UNIX on a non-Intel computer with a hand-tuned set of services and stack execute protection and a dedicated firewall running BSD. It took days to set this up, and I have a degree and work experience in IT. And I still worry, a little. Who knows when a JavaScript anomoly will be found, for example.
Seriously, what would people say if Microsoft tried to charge money for their baseline security software? They don't charge money for security patches, nor do other companies I know of. Given the magnitude of the problem of spyware and viruses on Windows, I'd say that they are right up there with basic security holes in needed a fix for free. I'd even bet that lawyers would agree.
But whenever I visit a site that uses a theme I recognize, it always makes me cringe.
Well, at least you'll know which ones are Slashdot mee-too sites and can be safely ignored. Why bother adding comments functionality when no one even visits the site? Do the people running the sites break out the champagne when they get a comment after a few months or their server logs its 100th hit?
All Mono applications would run in.NET, but not all.NET applications would run in Mono. What would be Microsoft's reaction if Mono was 100% compiliant with all of.NET?
With Sun, IBM, Novell, Linspire, Xandros, and others catering from ol' granny to Fortune 100, Linux + OpenOffice.org is a good thing. Microsoft is probably in a delusional fantasy about MS Office, right now. Poor guys...not!
COTS is the term people use when they say they are saving money by spending millions of dollars on commercial software and spending more millions customizing it for their business.
Are they really "the business" as the subject let's us to believe or something else?
At least for the Software Engineering Institute, they are clearly "the business." IIRC, even the government has CMM requirements for some contracts. Management salivates over the SEI daily in many companies, at least until they finally understand the CMM provides no process at all but only recommendations.
With IBM-backed Linux, OpenSolaris on the way, decent open source J2EE along side commercial J2EE, etc. the lines between suitable commercial software and open source software are somewhat blurry. The bar where someone has to start paying for their software is much higher, now, than it ever used to be, that much is certain.
One thing to note is that Xen and Solaris Containers are both free. Solaris 10 doesn't run Windows binaries like VMWare would, but Sun claims it will run Linux Standard Base and Solaris binaries side-by-side.
Do they actually execute trades on Linux? IIRC, the Chicago exchange was using Linux on the web servers and still had a mainframe-like system actually pushing the money. Saying an exchange is "running Red Hat" implies more than it means, IMO. Linux is very appropriate for web servers and app servers, but I would hope machines running billions of dollars in trades would be five-nines all the way.
Red Hat is lacking a significant hardware division. Red Hat is more like the new Microsoft, but smells nicer and doesn't require first born children in the contract.
Well, it has ousted Sun from pretty much all of the big financial organisations...
I'd bet Linux has a single-digit percentage share in financial institutions behind mainframes and Solaris/HPUX/AIX. What is the basis for your so confidently stated statement? Even that Omaha bank article that re-surfaced recently had their IT people saying they would have stayed with Sun if Sun's current product line up were available a couple of years ago.
You are right, but if the indy reviews are read properly, there can be a useful nugget of information that is absent from professional reviews. If a game is particularly buggy, there will be no question of it on the discussion boards, for example.
Java doesn't staple your testicles to Windows..NET does. All.NET is is a Windows development platform--"cross platform" doesn't even enter the picture.
There are lots of types of ball games. I don't recall minor-league hockey games costing that much, for example, although it's been a while since I've been to one.
Perhaps this will lead to a division in society between the people who know the MPAA can't take our money and those who don't. These companies exist only because of us, the customers. I have no problem at all telling them to %$#@ off, because I know entertainment is cheap and very easy to come by. Take my kid to a movie vs. take my kid to a park vs. take my kid to a ball game, whatever. Movies really are not that big of a deal. Sure I might miss great movies like Dr. Strangelove, but, ultimately, movies are just a medium for these stories and certainly not a requirement. Indy productions, stage adaptations, etc. are all different ways for the talented people out there to tell their stories. Big company execs can kiss my ass for all I care.
China is one of the biggest emerging markets in history. Besides, more global interdependency means a major global enconomic meltdown would be the prelude of another world war. At least we'll know when to start stocking up on canned goods before the shit hits the fan.
Slashdot Mirror
For instance, the Nintendo wavebird controller has no vibration capability.
Is this important? I always turn off the vibrator in games, not because it makes me feel dirty but just that it is damn annoying, IMO.
"It is too late in the game for them to get all grumbly, they've released the spec to ECMA and failed to excersise diligence in regard to the class definitions."
.NET, and the ECMA standard covers only a portion of the platform. Other software for interoperating with Windows suffers from this, such as Samba, whose developers get some insulation by being based outside the USA.
What does failed to excersize diligence mean? This isn't trademarks, like Kleenex. For example, Sun is very clear about its positions on Java and OpenSolaris. There is no amibguity that all of Java's APIs can be implemented and that Sun gets involved for conformance testing and licensing the brand. OpenSolaris will be released under the CDDL, complete with a patent license for that code. People can debate the practicalities of all this, but they can at least know where they stand legally.
There is no such clarity with
It is likely you are smarter and/or better educated about the issues than most people in Microsoft's target markets. And it could be luck, too. Out of my immediate friends and family who have Windows XP, three have had worms installed on their computers. They are average computer users whose life revolves around everything but the computer. It takes a lot of prodding to get them to update their virus software or anything for that matter. They generally don't quite understand that there are automated software programs out there who can scan thousands of computers for open ports and exploit known vulnerabilities without them clicking on anything.
I know about these things because I read computer-oriented news and see the queries in my firewall log files. The fact that there are still queries for Windows filesharing, for example, shows that the classic attacks must still work enough for the crackers to keep trying. That's why I like having OpenBSD and pf between my network and the Internet. I don't know anyone but myself who has the patience to go through the touble of configuring a firewall to the point that I do. It really shouldn't be this way, but even some of the pre-packaged firewalls out there have stupid default passwords or technical support holes in them.
IMO, Windows on the Internet is a very good example of why anarchy is a bad model for society. Protecting one's self shouldn't take such a huge amount of time and resources as it does with respect to networking.
You mean because someone (SunMink? who s/he?) writes a blog saying they promise to be nice the "FUD mongers are wrong". Comeon.
SunMink is Simon Phipps, an executive at Sun who writes on the same level as Groklaw. Not knee-jerk stuff, not OSRM insurance sales pitches.
Sun is populating OpenSolaris with its own patent portfolio via the CDDL to protect it from litigation. OpenSolaris will have its own IP asset base to put it on par with other patent holders, so, if someone decides to sue, OpenSolaris is very defensible. This is really a good position to be in.
Sun competes in the real world. They have to face the realities of software patents--for better and worse. They exist among other massive IP holders like Microsoft, IBM, HP, GE, etc. They want to make sure OpenSolaris is given what it needs to survive in a world where patents and "cease and desist" letters are like nuclear weapons. Also, they are taking the mangled and long-worn minefield of UNIX' history, and opening it once and for all. This is not trivial stuff!
You have to ask yourself what Sun really has to gain by becoming losers like SCO. Is pissing off the world something to gain?!? Let them prove themselves in their actions. Historically, when has Sun ever sued an open source project? Why are they a Red Hat and SuSE reseller? Why is their Java Desktop System supported on both Linux and Solaris? Why does their SunRay server software now run on Linux? Why does their Java Enterprise software run on Linux? Why are Sun selling a million Linux desktop systems to China?
...it is the fault of the spyware/virus writers - they just found exploits in MS. So lets pass the blame accordingly.
Okay. Microsoft Windows is like an expensive car parked in a bad part of town with the door unlocked and the keys in the ignition. The only thing lacking is the owner's signature on the title showing the transfer of ownership. Where Microsoft comes in is that it is not completely the owners fault: the car locks don't work all the time and the key is welded in place.
There really are no "safe surfing" guidelines for new users. Do PC suppliers walk the user through buying the proper AV software and a dedicated firewall box for every sale? Do they or Microsoft tell people up-front to avoid websites with ActiveX? Wasn't it only recently that Windows XP firewall was even active by default?
I feel fairly safe on the Internet--but I run UNIX on a non-Intel computer with a hand-tuned set of services and stack execute protection and a dedicated firewall running BSD. It took days to set this up, and I have a degree and work experience in IT. And I still worry, a little. Who knows when a JavaScript anomoly will be found, for example.
Seriously, what would people say if Microsoft tried to charge money for their baseline security software? They don't charge money for security patches, nor do other companies I know of. Given the magnitude of the problem of spyware and viruses on Windows, I'd say that they are right up there with basic security holes in needed a fix for free. I'd even bet that lawyers would agree.
Their plans are to _prevent_ patent lawsuits, not cause them. Read this blog entry. In short, the FUD mongers are wrong.
But whenever I visit a site that uses a theme I recognize, it always makes me cringe.
Well, at least you'll know which ones are Slashdot mee-too sites and can be safely ignored. Why bother adding comments functionality when no one even visits the site? Do the people running the sites break out the champagne when they get a comment after a few months or their server logs its 100th hit?
All Mono applications would run in
With Sun, IBM, Novell, Linspire, Xandros, and others catering from ol' granny to Fortune 100, Linux + OpenOffice.org is a good thing. Microsoft is probably in a delusional fantasy about MS Office, right now. Poor guys...not!
COTS is the term people use when they say they are saving money by spending millions of dollars on commercial software and spending more millions customizing it for their business.
Are they really "the business" as the subject let's us to believe or something else?
At least for the Software Engineering Institute, they are clearly "the business." IIRC, even the government has CMM requirements for some contracts. Management salivates over the SEI daily in many companies, at least until they finally understand the CMM provides no process at all but only recommendations.
With IBM-backed Linux, OpenSolaris on the way, decent open source J2EE along side commercial J2EE, etc. the lines between suitable commercial software and open source software are somewhat blurry. The bar where someone has to start paying for their software is much higher, now, than it ever used to be, that much is certain.
One thing to note is that Xen and Solaris Containers are both free. Solaris 10 doesn't run Windows binaries like VMWare would, but Sun claims it will run Linux Standard Base and Solaris binaries side-by-side.
Do they actually execute trades on Linux? IIRC, the Chicago exchange was using Linux on the web servers and still had a mainframe-like system actually pushing the money. Saying an exchange is "running Red Hat" implies more than it means, IMO. Linux is very appropriate for web servers and app servers, but I would hope machines running billions of dollars in trades would be five-nines all the way.
RedHat is the new Sun Micro.
Red Hat is lacking a significant hardware division. Red Hat is more like the new Microsoft, but smells nicer and doesn't require first born children in the contract.
Well, it has ousted Sun from pretty much all of the big financial organisations...
I'd bet Linux has a single-digit percentage share in financial institutions behind mainframes and Solaris/HPUX/AIX. What is the basis for your so confidently stated statement? Even that Omaha bank article that re-surfaced recently had their IT people saying they would have stayed with Sun if Sun's current product line up were available a couple of years ago.
You are right, but if the indy reviews are read properly, there can be a useful nugget of information that is absent from professional reviews. If a game is particularly buggy, there will be no question of it on the discussion boards, for example.
Java doesn't staple your testicles to Windows.
I would bet Sun's lawyers would intervene before GNOME were at risk. Integrating Mono into GNOME without being sure about patents would be insane.
Now that you have an eternity's worth of people to cast from, what new projects do you have in the works? I'm really interested!
There are lots of types of ball games. I don't recall minor-league hockey games costing that much, for example, although it's been a while since I've been to one.
Perhaps this will lead to a division in society between the people who know the MPAA can't take our money and those who don't. These companies exist only because of us, the customers. I have no problem at all telling them to %$#@ off, because I know entertainment is cheap and very easy to come by. Take my kid to a movie vs. take my kid to a park vs. take my kid to a ball game, whatever. Movies really are not that big of a deal. Sure I might miss great movies like Dr. Strangelove, but, ultimately, movies are just a medium for these stories and certainly not a requirement. Indy productions, stage adaptations, etc. are all different ways for the talented people out there to tell their stories. Big company execs can kiss my ass for all I care.
Another possibility would be to just randomly alter the last bits of each sample (for formats that this works with).
China is one of the biggest emerging markets in history. Besides, more global interdependency means a major global enconomic meltdown would be the prelude of another world war. At least we'll know when to start stocking up on canned goods before the shit hits the fan.