Yeah, wait for it... "In the matter of Microsoft Corporation vs Microsoft Corporation, we find the defendant guilty of unfair competition through defendant's production of Internet Explorer, a hacker tool used to locate and download unauthorised copies of Windows, among other things..."
Ooops, that'd be v2.5 - so I got the leading number wrong (yes, I realise the leading number was the most important one). That'd be in about October, again as rumour has it. And I checked with my own PS3, it's firmware 2.35 so 2.5 is possible.
Who cares? The "conveyance" bit is an attempt to control an element of the software supply chain that copyright does not cover, and therefore it cannot control. Specifically, it was an attempt to bind third parties (Microsoft) into an agreement that the FSF had no ability to compel them to.
No, they derive additional profit as a result of the performance and cost benefits of using a custom version of Apache which they have not distributed the source for.
Noted. I hadn't played with any of the new language extensions in C# 3.5 yet, but from what I've seen it's mostly support for more pointless predicates so it's no big loss not to have.
I want one so that when exchanging documents with friends, businesses and the government I can use the program that I wish and they can use the one they wish It's called ASCII, and it's compatible with every word processor in existence and half the documents written with Word DOC format, OOXML, and ODF should be delivered in this format but aren't.
I also hear a lot of "OOXML is proprietary" - this just isn't true. It's XML text in a ZIP file, much like ODF. I also hear a lot about patents, which is the same issue - Microsoft's patent pledge is almost identical to Sun's patent pledge (what, you thought ODF was somehow less encumbered?)
For all those documents you and your friends (and even your government) share, whether the spacing is "exactly so" doesn't actually matter. All the undefined bits of OOXML are things like "Autospace like Word 95" (and so what if autospacing isn't the same?) and "Fuck up the Indenting like WordPerfect 6" (and who really cares if unlike WordPerfect your document has indenting 4mm to the right of where it was in WP?)
The whole damn argument is a pointless waste of breath, designed by both sides as a weapon.
.NET Framework 3.5 is merely.NET Framework 2.0 with an enhanced class library (includes WCF, WPF, and so on). If Mono supports custom.NET classes, it technically is.NET 3.5
And if the outcry were limited Slashdot and Groklaw then you might have a point. However, the outcry I'm referring to is that raised by the standards bodies of Denmark, India, Brazil and South Africa. Oh, and the UKUUG too, although they're just taking the BSA to court rather than protesting the result. More people need to take the BSA to court. But besides that, half of the aforementioned standards bodies actually haven't protested (like Denmark's!)
So, unless you think that Slashdot has somehow unfairly subverted these bodies, then I think you'll find you're wrong on that one. No, no I don't find that at all. What I do find though is that if you look around, the only people who actually care about this whole thing is the open source folks trying to force governments to legislate Office out of existence (let's face it, that's what you're trying to do - it's not about freedom at all), Microsoft trying to defend against it (using less than savoury tactics may I add) and those of us who just want both sides to shut the fuck up. Seriously. You may say, just "don't read OOXML stories" and "don't read Microsoft stories" but here at Slashdot that's all there fucking is. In closing, kdawson sucks and Groklaw is third rate biased "journalism" at best. Like Fox News.
As for Groklaw, PJ is a paralegal bu training, and at least two of the Groklaw regulars are are qualified lawyers, either practicing or retired. So it's kind of hard to see how you come to the conclusion that they know nothing about law. I don't think you've ever read the site then, because Groklaw and it's regulars still insist that "conveyancing" in GPLv3 is actually enforceable. You have to be all kinds of useless at law to believe that.
Hmm... Not doing very well, are we? No, you're not. I'm fine though!
And by the way, I have no idea what moderation to expect on this one. Probably funny though. It amused me, at least.
Actually, it hasn't been debunked at all. There doesn't actually exist a version of OpenOffice.org which actually generates documents compliant with the ISO spec, but that's probably not all that bad (providing the "subsequent versions" which haven't been looked at by ISO don't go overboard).
By contrast, the only thing preventing MSO from writing 100% compliant transitional OOXML is their insistence on using "true/false" instead of "yes/no" (or is that "on/off"?) - as noted here where Rob Weir actually makes a comment that only one change (or very few) would be needed to Office 07 to make it generate valid OOXML.
This is a very real risk to my company-- we have 30 year old mainframe programs running as well as the day they were first written but our large visual basic system (1500 class x 40 lines os I guess about 60,000 lines?) now has 3 components at "end of life" and may randomly become non-functional without warning. Actually, not true. Microsoft does actually commit to ensuring that applications written in VB6 and the like continue to run (including patching the runtimes if necessary) to avoid this type of alienation.
SQL Server though, not so much. For that one you can change the compatibility level of the database, which usually works - very rarely does it fail to make a legacy app work.
But hey, this is Slashdot, where anti-MS FUD is OK, but anti-OSS FUD is the source of evil.
Still, dear god. VB6 sucks. Rewrite it in C++ already.
I don't think there'd be nearly the level of outcry if the same were true of OOXML. Yes there would. This is Microsoft, and Slashdot (which for the most part knows nothing about law) and Groklaw (which also doesn't actually know anything about law) are required to hate Microsoft no matter what.
Noone. If you create a product you are entitled to charge what you want for it, and people are entitled to not buy it. And if anyone tries to send you a Word document (just like it anyone tries to send me a WordPerfect document), feel free to tell them to send you a TXT file.
Indeed, but then Social Engineering comes into play - like that time someone managed to convince Verisign to reissue them one of Microsoft's Software Publishing Certificates, allowing them to sign programs as if they were Microsoft.
I apologise for that presumption - I was going on the basic premise that almost all Open Source on Linux is using the GPL (which from my own observations is true). This isn't to say that this free offering could not be used by BSD (or similar) or First Party licensed code.
Shut the fuck up Twitter. Even OpenOffice.org creates metadata. After all, it's a function of any useful word processor to do so, especially for a company that searches stuff for a living.
Open Source still can't integrate Havok - the GNU GPL forbids linking proprietary libraries even if they can be obtained free of charge. So a GPL'd shooter cannot use it.
Sorry, I should have been more specific - I was referring to End Users, not businesses. I know businesses have no reluctance to use or pay for support.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, it's BRITISH English that uses the "s" - American uses "z" instead.
Yeah, wait for it... "In the matter of Microsoft Corporation vs Microsoft Corporation, we find the defendant guilty of unfair competition through defendant's production of Internet Explorer, a hacker tool used to locate and download unauthorised copies of Windows, among other things..."
Ooops, that'd be v2.5 - so I got the leading number wrong (yes, I realise the leading number was the most important one). That'd be in about October, again as rumour has it. And I checked with my own PS3, it's firmware 2.35 so 2.5 is possible.
Rumour is v1.5 firmware includes that software emulation that Sony apparently "isn't interested in doing".
Who cares? The "conveyance" bit is an attempt to control an element of the software supply chain that copyright does not cover, and therefore it cannot control. Specifically, it was an attempt to bind third parties (Microsoft) into an agreement that the FSF had no ability to compel them to.
No, they derive additional profit as a result of the performance and cost benefits of using a custom version of Apache which they have not distributed the source for.
How the hell is this insightful? Apple apparently innovates by doing exactly what everyone else is doing but selling it to more people?
Well, there is a response to this, and it's (ironically) here
Noted. I hadn't played with any of the new language extensions in C# 3.5 yet, but from what I've seen it's mostly support for more pointless predicates so it's no big loss not to have.
I also hear a lot of "OOXML is proprietary" - this just isn't true. It's XML text in a ZIP file, much like ODF. I also hear a lot about patents, which is the same issue - Microsoft's patent pledge is almost identical to Sun's patent pledge (what, you thought ODF was somehow less encumbered?)
For all those documents you and your friends (and even your government) share, whether the spacing is "exactly so" doesn't actually matter. All the undefined bits of OOXML are things like "Autospace like Word 95" (and so what if autospacing isn't the same?) and "Fuck up the Indenting like WordPerfect 6" (and who really cares if unlike WordPerfect your document has indenting 4mm to the right of where it was in WP?)
The whole damn argument is a pointless waste of breath, designed by both sides as a weapon.
The iPhone is not the only PDA in the world.
.NET Framework 3.5 is merely .NET Framework 2.0 with an enhanced class library (includes WCF, WPF, and so on). If Mono supports custom .NET classes, it technically is .NET 3.5
Here's the support statement: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbrun/ms788708.aspx
qualified lawyers, either practicing or retired. So it's kind of hard to see how you come to the conclusion that they know nothing about law. I don't think you've ever read the site then, because Groklaw and it's regulars still insist that "conveyancing" in GPLv3 is actually enforceable. You have to be all kinds of useless at law to believe that. Hmm... Not doing very well, are we? No, you're not. I'm fine though!
And by the way, I have no idea what moderation to expect on this one. Probably funny though. It amused me, at least.
Actually, it hasn't been debunked at all. There doesn't actually exist a version of OpenOffice.org which actually generates documents compliant with the ISO spec, but that's probably not all that bad (providing the "subsequent versions" which haven't been looked at by ISO don't go overboard).
By contrast, the only thing preventing MSO from writing 100% compliant transitional OOXML is their insistence on using "true/false" instead of "yes/no" (or is that "on/off"?) - as noted here where Rob Weir actually makes a comment that only one change (or very few) would be needed to Office 07 to make it generate valid OOXML.
SQL Server though, not so much. For that one you can change the compatibility level of the database, which usually works - very rarely does it fail to make a legacy app work.
But hey, this is Slashdot, where anti-MS FUD is OK, but anti-OSS FUD is the source of evil.
Still, dear god. VB6 sucks. Rewrite it in C++ already.
be nearly the level of outcry if the same were true of OOXML. Yes there would. This is Microsoft, and Slashdot (which for the most part knows nothing about law) and Groklaw (which also doesn't actually know anything about law) are required to hate Microsoft no matter what.
Noone. If you create a product you are entitled to charge what you want for it, and people are entitled to not buy it. And if anyone tries to send you a Word document (just like it anyone tries to send me a WordPerfect document), feel free to tell them to send you a TXT file.
Nothing. By the time the company they request the tape from actually responds, the tape will be so worn out all they'll get is static.
Indeed, but then Social Engineering comes into play - like that time someone managed to convince Verisign to reissue them one of Microsoft's Software Publishing Certificates, allowing them to sign programs as if they were Microsoft.
I apologise for that presumption - I was going on the basic premise that almost all Open Source on Linux is using the GPL (which from my own observations is true). This isn't to say that this free offering could not be used by BSD (or similar) or First Party licensed code.
Shut the fuck up Twitter. Even OpenOffice.org creates metadata. After all, it's a function of any useful word processor to do so, especially for a company that searches stuff for a living.
Open Source still can't integrate Havok - the GNU GPL forbids linking proprietary libraries even if they can be obtained free of charge. So a GPL'd shooter cannot use it.
Sorry, I should have been more specific - I was referring to End Users, not businesses. I know businesses have no reluctance to use or pay for support.
Yes, free (AND gratis - which only has one definition).
Stop trying to redefine English you frigging Nazis. Free means whatever every English dictionary in the world says it means.