I laughed when she asked me about this but she said and I quote "Ya these are some stupid questions, however to make sure your not a terrorist we need to ask you some questions."
She may not be familiar with the concept of a lie.:)
Seriously, how can anyone think that they can "make sure" that someone isn't a terrorist by asking the subject a few questions?
Until Linux or OS X have complete, functional, integrated competitors to: Active Directory, Exchange/Outlook (including portable device syncing), SQL Server, Office (*all* the functionality of Office, not just the subset offered by OpenOffice), Sharepoint (*all* the functionality of Sharepoint, not just the subset offered by wikis)... until that happens, you're not going to get corporate users away from Microsoft.
And when that happens, Microsoft will have developed another 5-10 products that corporations just need to have.
I was thinking more of a decentralized approach for consumer systems. Just like they have an uninstall applet in the control panel, they should be able to allow applications to register their own update locations so that all applications could be handled by the built-in automatic update system. Having 20 different automatic updaters in the system tray is just stupid.
and forces all apps to have their own separate update facility
Which is pretty stupid really. Come on Microsoft, how hard would it be to construct a framework to provide one-click updates to the entire system? You managed central uninstallation from the control panel a long time ago, why not also provide an update facility? Installers could register a URL to an update server and if necessary some class to communicate with that server and determine which package is the newest update, etc.
It is interesting that you mention Apache when discussing the alleged fear of forks, as Apache is itself a fork of the NCSA httpd. The name Apache even stems from "A Patchy Server", in that Apache initially was distributed as a set of patches for the NCSA httpd.
However, I'd be hesitant recommending it as an educational game, as in that capacity it is essentially socialist propaganda.
Socialist propaganda? I couldn't raise taxes to more than 20% in SimCity, and then the people would be moving out quickly. Where I live (IRL), the taxes are much higher than that, and we have no problems with abandoned buildings or people moving away.
but things like Selinux policy files, pam configurations, etc. are redhat specific and wouldn't need to be distributed or may be distributed using a restrictive license.
How hard do you think it would be to take them from Fedora and adapt them to suit your needs? It's not like you would have to start with a blank slate, as RHEL effectively is Fedora with some minor tweaks and enhancements.
However, if a bribe were given, under the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), someone at Microsoft would be criminally liable. U.S. citizens who bribe overseas government officials are subject to prosecution at home.
But why would the government do this? The US government has an interest in making Microsoft even stronger abroad so that Microsoft can continue to funnel money into the US. So if Microsoft loses, the US loses, unless another American company wins instead. If the loss is to a foreign company, I cannot see why the US government wouldn't want to even help with the bribe.
How many of those free applications have been ported to Windows or began as a native Windows app? Think OpenOffice.org., Firefox, and countless others.
Are you saying that OpenOffice.org and Firefox started as Windows applications and later got ported to other operating systems? I'd surely like to see some evidence for this.
Perhaps the Nigerians just decided they like Windows more.
The time to do that is before the bidding process. Changing your mind after the bidding process is over and the winner is selected smells really fishy to me. Such an act is really out of the ordinary and warrants a detailed explanation.
Of course they can. Their goal is a complete monopoly, not a near-monopoly like they have now. If they have it their way, all computing activities in the world are done on Microsoft platforms with only Microsoft software. That competitors even exist is certainly a thorn in their side.
Because he is a raging Microsoft fanboy. His greatest wish is to actually work at Microsoft and destroy F/OSS. Since he didn't get an H1B visa, he couldn't physically work there, so instead he is trying to subvert the community from within, by pushing for Microsoft's proprietary technologies. When everybody has migrated to.NET, OOXML, etc, Microsoft can just extend the protocols, APIs, etc, and say "Hey, if you want your applications to work as intended, use genuine Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office instead of that weed-smoking hippie cancer stuff."
On unix machines, SSH is absolutely invaluable... RCP/Rlogin could do the same job, but it's horrendously insecure.
An alternative, if you use Kerberos for authentication, is to use kerberized telnet. It does some nifty things that SSH don't, such as server authentication without you manually accepting a server key by checking a fingerprint. Of course, SSH has some significant advantages at the protocol level, such as using a single port for everything (makes it easier to use through firewalls), so a kerberized SSH would be best. Fortunately, people are working with this for OpenSSH, although the OpenSSH maintainers have so far (AFAIK) refused to include it in the mainline distribution.
Software 'as such' is not patentable subject matter.
Well, that is pretty irrelevant, as software that is not 'as such' is very patentable, at least in Sweden. As soon as a computer program or business process solves a "technical problem" (which could mean as little as running it in a computer), it can be patented, or rather you patent the effect that results from the execution of the program. Or at least the Swedish patent office says so on its web site.
But in my eyes, the above is just a way of sidestepping the 'as such' clause, since programs are pretty worthless if you cannot run them in a computer.
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She may not be familiar with the concept of a lie. :)
Seriously, how can anyone think that they can "make sure" that someone isn't a terrorist by asking the subject a few questions?
And when that happens, Microsoft will have developed another 5-10 products that corporations just need to have.
Or rather prices for PCs with Windows. I can't see why prices for PCs without Windows would skyrocket.
Offering other OSs should still be the choice of the OEMs.I agree, but offering a PC without Windows should not.
I was thinking more of a decentralized approach for consumer systems. Just like they have an uninstall applet in the control panel, they should be able to allow applications to register their own update locations so that all applications could be handled by the built-in automatic update system. Having 20 different automatic updaters in the system tray is just stupid.
Which is pretty stupid really. Come on Microsoft, how hard would it be to construct a framework to provide one-click updates to the entire system? You managed central uninstallation from the control panel a long time ago, why not also provide an update facility? Installers could register a URL to an update server and if necessary some class to communicate with that server and determine which package is the newest update, etc.
It is interesting that you mention Apache when discussing the alleged fear of forks, as Apache is itself a fork of the NCSA httpd. The name Apache even stems from "A Patchy Server", in that Apache initially was distributed as a set of patches for the NCSA httpd.
Because the managers that made the decision previously worked for Microsoft. Once Microsoft, always Microsoft.
I read somewhere that Bill Gates got hold of the source (to Dartmouth BASIC) through some dumpster-diving at Dartmouth College.
Socialist propaganda? I couldn't raise taxes to more than 20% in SimCity, and then the people would be moving out quickly. Where I live (IRL), the taxes are much higher than that, and we have no problems with abandoned buildings or people moving away.
How hard do you think it would be to take them from Fedora and adapt them to suit your needs? It's not like you would have to start with a blank slate, as RHEL effectively is Fedora with some minor tweaks and enhancements.
It may not be, but for the US export industry, I think that the US government will make an exception. Why? It brings money into the US.
That may not be entirely true. We have precedents in Sweden, but only the supreme court can set precedents.
But why would the government do this? The US government has an interest in making Microsoft even stronger abroad so that Microsoft can continue to funnel money into the US. So if Microsoft loses, the US loses, unless another American company wins instead. If the loss is to a foreign company, I cannot see why the US government wouldn't want to even help with the bribe.
Are you saying that OpenOffice.org and Firefox started as Windows applications and later got ported to other operating systems? I'd surely like to see some evidence for this.
The proper time to do that is during the bidding process, not after. Doing it afterwards raises all kinds of suspicions about foul play.
The time to do that is before the bidding process. Changing your mind after the bidding process is over and the winner is selected smells really fishy to me. Such an act is really out of the ordinary and warrants a detailed explanation.
Of course they can. Their goal is a complete monopoly, not a near-monopoly like they have now. If they have it their way, all computing activities in the world are done on Microsoft platforms with only Microsoft software. That competitors even exist is certainly a thorn in their side.
Of course, if you want to further Microsoft's stronghold over the market, use their language and "standards".
Because he is a raging Microsoft fanboy. His greatest wish is to actually work at Microsoft and destroy F/OSS. Since he didn't get an H1B visa, he couldn't physically work there, so instead he is trying to subvert the community from within, by pushing for Microsoft's proprietary technologies. When everybody has migrated to .NET, OOXML, etc, Microsoft can just extend the protocols, APIs, etc, and say "Hey, if you want your applications to work as intended, use genuine Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office instead of that weed-smoking hippie cancer stuff."
In other words, Miguel is a Microsoft fanboy.
Interoperability is one thing, writing Gnome components in .NET is quite another. The former is good while the latter is really bad.
An alternative, if you use Kerberos for authentication, is to use kerberized telnet. It does some nifty things that SSH don't, such as server authentication without you manually accepting a server key by checking a fingerprint. Of course, SSH has some significant advantages at the protocol level, such as using a single port for everything (makes it easier to use through firewalls), so a kerberized SSH would be best. Fortunately, people are working with this for OpenSSH, although the OpenSSH maintainers have so far (AFAIK) refused to include it in the mainline distribution.
Well, that is pretty irrelevant, as software that is not 'as such' is very patentable, at least in Sweden. As soon as a computer program or business process solves a "technical problem" (which could mean as little as running it in a computer), it can be patented, or rather you patent the effect that results from the execution of the program. Or at least the Swedish patent office says so on its web site.
But in my eyes, the above is just a way of sidestepping the 'as such' clause, since programs are pretty worthless if you cannot run them in a computer.
Yes you can. In the US, anything under the sun can be patented, innovative or not.
They could, but there is a significant risk that the vendor of the infringing product (i.e. e.g. Microsoft) steps in and takes care of their defense.