Hmmm... 1,200 times say $1,000 (avg credit limit most people are much higher and some lower)
Lets see that comes too roughly $1,200,000.
Yes no big deal, i can see Visa and Mastercard overlooking that type of liability.
If it was a man in the middle attack like you suggest this creates larger problems to the e-commerce industry as a whole. I'm hoping it came from eBays internal servers, a patchable security fault will make me sleep better.
This is simply the beginning of how websites becoming major targets for malware, previously it was peoples home PC's, now its websites. My guess is this data was taken via some sort of malware through an uploaded ebay page being able to steal sessions or cookie data.
When I was younger my best tactic for fixing a computer issue was to format. As I got older I realized that solution is impractical. Just like switching to another OS is impractical for most of us.
So on that train of thought switching from XP to Vista is considered impractical, you'll get no argument from me on that one.
This is stupid, Linux as a distro is a complete solution from A-Z... Vista is a bit of a solution as its just an operating system with limited services. Why did he do it to Vista anyway? shouldn't he be doing it to a server edition of Windows?
When i see a windows system and linux system that do exactly the same things have the same purpose software installed on them i can see the viability of the test.
Further, malware runs rampet in Windows, nearly 50% of Vista's vulns were not patched, where regardless of how many Linux has they get fixed when found. More secure? You tell me is a nightclub more secure when the bouncer only kicks out half the troublemakers whole a tougher and meaner club down the street deals with all of them?
It's the case of the hand being bitten by what feeds you. Linux is community based, upset the community and you upset your chief product, The choices made by Novell were done because OpenSuse wasn't their whole hearted asset whereas with RedHat it is, without Linux, RedHat dies.
At the end of the day Linus has the power to axe certain companies from benefiting from future versions of Linux.
But bravo and well done to the companies that have said no, at the end of the day its built the computing industry to work in a political sense. Give the people what they want to hear. Its amusing to see this happen more and more when Linux is involved with business, Dell for instance, its the power of the community driving it and shaping it
Maybe that crazy RMS sentiment is starting to really show its face these day.
Your views even though may not seem straight up, collide with those of Richard Stallman. Overturn a public right yet its that public right that allows computing to be a free market (just like mowing lawns is). The only way to make it truely equal is make it so Microsoft is open source and doesnt restrict anything.
If we are to strip this freedom then the only way to allow an industry, a business and education tool which has impacted so significantly on human civilization (i'm talking about computing) is to put Microsoft in a position where it is more powerful then goverment within the confines of computing.
For many, computers is as imporatant is water, it generates income that therefore gives the ability for people to pay their rates to pay for that water to get to their glasses. If at any stage somebody does this too you and your lawn mowing business. By creating a tool that consumes the entire garden care industry to the point where you cant pay for your water rates I'm more then sure you'll be glad knowing their is a law out there that helps you out.
The thing is its back to the easy cash principle, not really wanting to put in change, rather look good so in the eyes of its customers.
IT is so much like politics these days, you know, if we get this company to use our technology everybody else will so how do we win over the masses? A good answer that question is that they partner to a particular brand and tap into their marketplace. I think Novell is the unique company that was blind to its establishments of products and services and didn't consider that trying to play on the both sides of the fence will undoubtedly cause such failure.
But who was to know things would play this way? Microsoft had these visions of what the future of computing would be but i bet they didn't consider the dynamics of the way the industry would work. Novell and Microsoft are both dinosaurs in the software industry they look from the perspective of where they have came from to where they are now. New and upcoming software businesses have the vantage point being able to see the possible loop holes and problems they could face from now on and into the future so its a lot easier to avoid such problems.
Consider, would you prefer having one large company (Microsoft) being the company that sets the rules, screws anybody who establishes a product line which is unlike their own but based on their operating system (a bad move) or dozens of smaller company's playing the same sort of games with larger ties of unpredictability and uncertainty?
If thats the case we would of seen similar reactions from Redhat or another enterprising companies that "sell" Linux. The way I see it if a smoker is to sue the tobacco companies for their own bad health, it opens the door for anyone else who smokes also to sue them as well.
I think in this case it would be exactly the same. Do unto Novell what you'd expect happen to your own company, with the recent adoption of Linux to Dell and the lacking of what is and what is to come i.e "Windows Vista" this is just yet another part of this constant struggle of playing the right tricks to make the most easy cash possible.
This whole coupon deal was just that, lets see, umm... Microsoft threatens to sue Linux users, Microsoft finds a way to screw a distribution of Linux whose maintained by a company that needs Microsoft support in other product lines. Redhat you see doesn't need Windows where as Novell really does, just like Norton needs Windows but is also getting screwed with the same sort of tactics. After Microsoft finds this way to screw Novell and make that easy cash, they publicly announce (because they know they cant win) that they are NOT going to sue anybody for using Linux any time soon.
So what would you expect? Novel is like F**k what did we do? a) We pissed off a pile of people / businesses that use our product (or did) b) had a pile of our customers purchase something they didn't need c) worked directly with Satan himself, then bastard ran off with our soul and we look like a pile of D**ks to everybody now so lets go into repair mode PR style and see what we can do about cleaning up the mess.
Thats very true, but you cant keep accusing and accusing and accusing and accusing without follow through.
In my view its a form of lying, slander and deformation. MS can milk it for the publicity but eventually they'll have to come up with the goods if they keep it up, the fact that Linus has made it an issue (now) by responding to the claims means Microsoft has to be very cautious about how to continue from now on as the can of worms has just been opened.
Linus has done a very smart thing by letting it get to this point, maybe he could of held out a little bit longer before raising the issue and let Microsoft carry on a little bit more, and allow for more slanderous evidence to build so-to-speak, but i don't think his intension is to go back and counter sue MS (with other open src vendors in toe) but rather put a stop to the negative publicity and allow growth of Linux to continue.
If you consider, Ballmer has accused open source of being a "Cancer" on computing, open source is a whole lot of people, we are not talking just about Linux here and we are not talking about criminals (so he really hasn't go the right to be saying such things to the media) were are talking about peoples businesses, software development and science.
The stuff is chemically speaking "the real thing"...
Ummm???? Okay this is what i suggest
Reduce the amount of tv you watch
Stop practicing flying off your mums back portch
The red underwear.... not a good look on the outside of your pants
Finally admit that you do not have XRay vision
I stick to my original comment that this is all stupid and BBC News is silly for putting it on the news anyway, we are talking about a fictional movie here, where they happened to just slap some chemical fingerprint on the box during the movie.
Lets all debate whether time travel is fictional and real and all the inconsistencies of star trek while we are at it, then feel so good about ourselves because we found out that star trek is infact a TV show and the people who put it together didn't think it through so well.... Erm.. now i'm seeing the x over here
Anyway, you do realise it was pink in color, pink Kryptonite makes Superman attracted to other men and if your inferring that your like Superman that must mean you're... I'll leave you to ponder that thought *wink*:)
I think it really comes down to the fact Microsoft doesn't understand why they exist. They think they do, they call themselves are _REAL_ business as opposed to Google, i kind of laugh at that, because really (and not to be up myself here) they haven't the foggiest. They are looking down from the heavens going "I created this" but if they were to look back and the steps they took they still wouldnt figure it out.
You look at the old Mac vs PC saga, Pirates of Silicon Valley style, and you see the corporate scope of why Microsoft made it big, even though it may seem feasible thats what really took place (or similar to that), selling this os idea to IBM and all that stuff. I see a real big business to small business problem arise, they still dont see what they really did to be so successful.
It wasn't that Microsoft was better was it? Nope. It wasn't because it was cheaper? Well they say it was because of this, but i rather think not. It wasn't the agreements they held with pc manufacturers? Maybe helped but still, a no in my view.
It was because you could buy a motherboard, a hard disk, a crappy monitor, a stick of ram and install windows and call it your own computer, then sell it too some sucker for 2k create your own business on it and appear like god in your local neighborhood.
Microsoft paved the way for this industry to fold into what it was then and what it is today, a business of businesses. Mac at the time behaved like Microsoft is now, wants to control the hardware design, dictate what os and applications go with what and limit the general market to using only what they tell you to use.
Because Microsoft allowed for this freedom in the past it was used by everyone, from big to small. Now they are reneging on this model and trying to go the original mac approach, limit the hardware, limit the applications, you purchase this tool now to do this this and this, whilst all this is happening Mac is sitting in the corner bending in the wind to the way the industry suggests. Mac has become the old Microsoft and Microsoft is becoming the old Mac.
While all this is happening, the market is seeing Linux for the 1st time hold a level of freedom that both OS's struggle in at present. Underestimating that was what Mac did back in the 80's and they paid for it then, Microsoft is generally worried about Linux, but i dont think they truly know why, ofcourse free this free that, its more then that, Linux holds the ability now to get your crappy motherboard, dodgy monitor, slap Linux in it and sell it for 2k, and look like a god in your local neighborhood.
Does the right to bare arms insinuate that one human being "should" be entitled to have the power to kill over 30 people easily and affectively without any great effort or brain power to achieve? No, its not its a law designed to protect people from being attacked, until the law "defines" this aspect when it comes to gun control then expect guns to be used to their maximum potential and plenty more deaths to follow.
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 1
Defiantly the case, this all comes down to all the different levels of certification that Microsoft offers. It's very easy to get involved in such weekend training programs to get your MSCE Qual, local training institutes and corporations alike offer these courses left right and centre. Not only do they make it easier to be a Windows tech but compared to the RedHat certifications (just like the popularity of their operating system) they are much more streamline.
Just as the ease-of-use increases for Linux Desktop I see that being simply a trend issue, eventually (idealistically) this should change. For instance, GMH releases a new type of fuel injection system for the new model cars then all the mechanics supporting GMH have to upskill to keep with the trends, Doctors do this with medical techniques, and computers are no different, its simply an industry thing.
Say Dell was to sell Linux Desktop (which they say they are) their staff will have to upskill. Eventually it trickles down into the smaller and mid-scale business and eventually will be come as prominent as MSCE. The problem is Microsoft "thought" they were GMH, in fact they are simply a component of the car, in their own right the market is now seeing this for the 1st time and companies like Dell, etc have seen their power industry, this largely has to do with the fact Windows is doing badly in the retail market and only makes sales via their OEM distributors.
If it wasn't for this factor their stronghold on the market would of remained the same and they wouldn't be so harsh on restricting the support or distribution of OEM versions of XP (as the article suggests).
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
And the vast majority of forced Windows users are corporations. They have Windows Server 2003, Outlook, NetMeeting, etc. all integrated into their back office systems. They are not going to switch out their entire infrastructure to Linux due to some OEM issues.
They will if their IT officers actually took the time to see what the rest of the market offered. You'll find most of these "specific" solutions are not that specific to Microsoft branded software anymore. And if you can show the cost of migrating their systems to the new Microsoft software (all new vista etc) against other alternate solutions and show the definite cost advantage then businesses will defiantly change over.
The fear that you have as an sysadmin is (well founded however) the reason why your infrastructure wont change. Consider, You move over to open source and you fail doing so then yes you'll loose your job and look bad to your bosses. Pick a Microsoft solution to do the job and it fails, you'll keep your job and simply blame Microsoft for your failure.
AND THAT MY FRIEND! is a true tech admins duty these days:)
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Eventually, as it always happens, there will be bug releases and new drivers for Windows Vista. Upgrading to them is as easily as doing "Windows Update." Linux (and BSD) distros will never be this easily patched due to the very nature of being open source. I only have to go to 1 web site to update my PC's - Windows Update - and it's incredibly simple - just click on Update and voila, it's done and everything works.
Again, wrong, Ubuntu has software update service siting in their version of the systray where windows has theirs.
And Microsofts turn around on patches have been worse then mac and Linux's track record in the past. Despite what you may think, Linux and MacOS foundation and design is better equipped to deal with legacy issues and the implementation patches. Microsoft has struggled continuously with this issue and if im correct recently struggled releasing a set of patches just the other day, I think this is the 3rd day in a row Microsoft had to do an update on my PC, the 2nd update left my pc with a memory violation which the next update had to fix.
My advise is really see the new and upcoming, linux developers arnet really that short sighted to allow the same issues that has always been an issue get in the way this time.
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this? Not Linux
on
The End is Nigh for XP
·
· Score: 1
For all of the quirks and problems that Vista has (I bought a Dell laptop with Vista but installed XP instead), it is still much, much simpler than Linux for your average user: mom & pop, teenage / college kids, young professionals.
I don't agree with that statement, the differences between vista and xp are the same between macos and windows, and in this case windows and linux.
That argument could of been made a year ago, now its not the case.. Really its not, i have my 2nd language english speaking girlfriend who has used windows all her life switch over to ubuntu within a day, the only difference for her is the start button is at the top of the screen.
If it breaks she calls a techy (me) to fix it, If it were windows, same diff.
Hackers, shmakers, try not pointing the finger at an easy (and less harmful) target created from propaganda media or a misguided opinionated blog writer.
Name one hacker that has caused _any_ serious ecnomical problems on the internet so far? And if it was, it was usually done incidentally, not as the focus of the excersise.
Its organised crime sydnicates that instigate ddos attacks on corporations. So consider, would you perfer some comp sci geek, teenage kid in their moms basement discovering such holes and then reporting them to bug traq? Or would you like hired professionals who are given big wads of cash under the table to create malicious applications and provide them to people who wish to insinuate the illegal and malicious use of the code on persons/organisations?
These days companys need to protect themselfs from being held at ransom by such people, not the kids, the kids have and always just been having fun being smarter then everyone else.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't earths oceans full of salt too?
What no jokes about Duke Nukem Forever not being released before the demise of the universe?
Hmmm ... 1,200 times say $1,000 (avg credit limit most people are much higher and some lower)
Lets see that comes too roughly $1,200,000.
Yes no big deal, i can see Visa and Mastercard overlooking that type of liability.
If it was a man in the middle attack like you suggest this creates larger problems to the e-commerce industry as a whole. I'm hoping it came from eBays internal servers, a patchable security fault will make me sleep better.
This is simply the beginning of how websites becoming major targets for malware, previously it was peoples home PC's, now its websites. My guess is this data was taken via some sort of malware through an uploaded ebay page being able to steal sessions or cookie data.
i hope all of you fucking theives goto jail. assholes.
/.
I didn't know Britney came on
When I was younger my best tactic for fixing a computer issue was to format. As I got older I realized that solution is impractical. Just like switching to another OS is impractical for most of us.
So on that train of thought switching from XP to Vista is considered impractical, you'll get no argument from me on that one.
No you have it all wrong ...
...
...
You meditate in the lotus position and chant "UUUUUBUUUNNNNTTUUU" with every exhaling breath
Do this for 5 mins a every day and soon enough you'll achieve enlightenment
This is stupid, Linux as a distro is a complete solution from A-Z ... Vista is a bit of a solution as its just an operating system with limited services. Why did he do it to Vista anyway? shouldn't he be doing it to a server edition of Windows?
When i see a windows system and linux system that do exactly the same things have the same purpose software installed on them i can see the viability of the test.
Further, malware runs rampet in Windows, nearly 50% of Vista's vulns were not patched, where regardless of how many Linux has they get fixed when found. More secure? You tell me is a nightclub more secure when the bouncer only kicks out half the troublemakers whole a tougher and meaner club down the street deals with all of them?
It's the case of the hand being bitten by what feeds you. Linux is community based, upset the community and you upset your chief product, The choices made by Novell were done because OpenSuse wasn't their whole hearted asset whereas with RedHat it is, without Linux, RedHat dies.
At the end of the day Linus has the power to axe certain companies from benefiting from future versions of Linux.
But bravo and well done to the companies that have said no, at the end of the day its built the computing industry to work in a political sense. Give the people what they want to hear. Its amusing to see this happen more and more when Linux is involved with business, Dell for instance, its the power of the community driving it and shaping it
Maybe that crazy RMS sentiment is starting to really show its face these day.
Your views even though may not seem straight up, collide with those of Richard Stallman. Overturn a public right yet its that public right that allows computing to be a free market (just like mowing lawns is). The only way to make it truely equal is make it so Microsoft is open source and doesnt restrict anything.
If we are to strip this freedom then the only way to allow an industry, a business and education tool which has impacted so significantly on human civilization (i'm talking about computing) is to put Microsoft in a position where it is more powerful then goverment within the confines of computing.
For many, computers is as imporatant is water, it generates income that therefore gives the ability for people to pay their rates to pay for that water to get to their glasses. If at any stage somebody does this too you and your lawn mowing business. By creating a tool that consumes the entire garden care industry to the point where you cant pay for your water rates I'm more then sure you'll be glad knowing their is a law out there that helps you out.
I'm more then sure putting their link on slashdot is not helping their downtime situation.
* in a butthead like voice *
... you said monad.
heh
The thing is its back to the easy cash principle, not really wanting to put in change, rather look good so in the eyes of its customers.
IT is so much like politics these days, you know, if we get this company to use our technology everybody else will so how do we win over the masses? A good answer that question is that they partner to a particular brand and tap into their marketplace. I think Novell is the unique company that was blind to its establishments of products and services and didn't consider that trying to play on the both sides of the fence will undoubtedly cause such failure.
But who was to know things would play this way? Microsoft had these visions of what the future of computing would be but i bet they didn't consider the dynamics of the way the industry would work. Novell and Microsoft are both dinosaurs in the software industry they look from the perspective of where they have came from to where they are now. New and upcoming software businesses have the vantage point being able to see the possible loop holes and problems they could face from now on and into the future so its a lot easier to avoid such problems.
Consider, would you prefer having one large company (Microsoft) being the company that sets the rules, screws anybody who establishes a product line which is unlike their own but based on their operating system (a bad move) or dozens of smaller company's playing the same sort of games with larger ties of unpredictability and uncertainty?
If thats the case we would of seen similar reactions from Redhat or another enterprising companies that "sell" Linux. The way I see it if a smoker is to sue the tobacco companies for their own bad health, it opens the door for anyone else who smokes also to sue them as well.
... Microsoft threatens to sue Linux users, Microsoft finds a way to screw a distribution of Linux whose maintained by a company that needs Microsoft support in other product lines. Redhat you see doesn't need Windows where as Novell really does, just like Norton needs Windows but is also getting screwed with the same sort of tactics. After Microsoft finds this way to screw Novell and make that easy cash, they publicly announce (because they know they cant win) that they are NOT going to sue anybody for using Linux any time soon.
I think in this case it would be exactly the same. Do unto Novell what you'd expect happen to your own company, with the recent adoption of Linux to Dell and the lacking of what is and what is to come i.e "Windows Vista" this is just yet another part of this constant struggle of playing the right tricks to make the most easy cash possible.
This whole coupon deal was just that, lets see, umm
So what would you expect? Novel is like F**k what did we do? a) We pissed off a pile of people / businesses that use our product (or did) b) had a pile of our customers purchase something they didn't need c) worked directly with Satan himself, then bastard ran off with our soul and we look like a pile of D**ks to everybody now so lets go into repair mode PR style and see what we can do about cleaning up the mess.
Thats very true, but you cant keep accusing and accusing and accusing and accusing without follow through.
In my view its a form of lying, slander and deformation. MS can milk it for the publicity but eventually they'll have to come up with the goods if they keep it up, the fact that Linus has made it an issue (now) by responding to the claims means Microsoft has to be very cautious about how to continue from now on as the can of worms has just been opened.
Linus has done a very smart thing by letting it get to this point, maybe he could of held out a little bit longer before raising the issue and let Microsoft carry on a little bit more, and allow for more slanderous evidence to build so-to-speak, but i don't think his intension is to go back and counter sue MS (with other open src vendors in toe) but rather put a stop to the negative publicity and allow growth of Linux to continue.
If you consider, Ballmer has accused open source of being a "Cancer" on computing, open source is a whole lot of people, we are not talking just about Linux here and we are not talking about criminals (so he really hasn't go the right to be saying such things to the media) were are talking about peoples businesses, software development and science.
The stuff is chemically speaking "the real thing"...
Ummm???? Okay this is what i suggest
I stick to my original comment that this is all stupid and BBC News is silly for putting it on the news anyway, we are talking about a fictional movie here, where they happened to just slap some chemical fingerprint on the box during the movie.
Lets all debate whether time travel is fictional and real and all the inconsistencies of star trek while we are at it, then feel so good about ourselves because we found out that star trek is infact a TV show and the people who put it together didn't think it through so well .... Erm .. now i'm seeing the x over here
Kryptonite is from Planet Krypton ... NOT Serbia ..
... I'll leave you to ponder that thought *wink* :)
Anyway, you do realise it was pink in color, pink Kryptonite makes Superman attracted to other men and if your inferring that your like Superman that must mean you're
Lets not forget one important point.
Kryptonite comes from Planet Krypton.
If it's not from Planet Krypton how can it be called "Kryptonite"!?!? ARRRGH
Why did BBC News publish this?
I think it really comes down to the fact Microsoft doesn't understand why they exist. They think they do, they call themselves are _REAL_ business as opposed to Google, i kind of laugh at that, because really (and not to be up myself here) they haven't the foggiest. They are looking down from the heavens going "I created this" but if they were to look back and the steps they took they still wouldnt figure it out.
You look at the old Mac vs PC saga, Pirates of Silicon Valley style, and you see the corporate scope of why Microsoft made it big, even though it may seem feasible thats what really took place (or similar to that), selling this os idea to IBM and all that stuff. I see a real big business to small business problem arise, they still dont see what they really did to be so successful.
It wasn't that Microsoft was better was it? Nope.
It wasn't because it was cheaper? Well they say it was because of this, but i rather think not.
It wasn't the agreements they held with pc manufacturers? Maybe helped but still, a no in my view.
It was because you could buy a motherboard, a hard disk, a crappy monitor, a stick of ram and install windows and call it your own computer, then sell it too some sucker for 2k create your own business on it and appear like god in your local neighborhood.
Microsoft paved the way for this industry to fold into what it was then and what it is today, a business of businesses. Mac at the time behaved like Microsoft is now, wants to control the hardware design, dictate what os and applications go with what and limit the general market to using only what they tell you to use.
Because Microsoft allowed for this freedom in the past it was used by everyone, from big to small. Now they are reneging on this model and trying to go the original mac approach, limit the hardware, limit the applications, you purchase this tool now to do this this and this, whilst all this is happening Mac is sitting in the corner bending in the wind to the way the industry suggests. Mac has become the old Microsoft and Microsoft is becoming the old Mac.
While all this is happening, the market is seeing Linux for the 1st time hold a level of freedom that both OS's struggle in at present. Underestimating that was what Mac did back in the 80's and they paid for it then, Microsoft is generally worried about Linux, but i dont think they truly know why, ofcourse free this free that, its more then that, Linux holds the ability now to get your crappy motherboard, dodgy monitor, slap Linux in it and sell it for 2k, and look like a god in your local neighborhood.
Does the right to bare arms insinuate that one human being "should" be entitled to have the power to kill over 30 people easily and affectively without any great effort or brain power to achieve? No, its not its a law designed to protect people from being attacked, until the law "defines" this aspect when it comes to gun control then expect guns to be used to their maximum potential and plenty more deaths to follow.
Defiantly the case, this all comes down to all the different levels of certification that Microsoft offers. It's very easy to get involved in such weekend training programs to get your MSCE Qual, local training institutes and corporations alike offer these courses left right and centre. Not only do they make it easier to be a Windows tech but compared to the RedHat certifications (just like the popularity of their operating system) they are much more streamline.
Just as the ease-of-use increases for Linux Desktop I see that being simply a trend issue, eventually (idealistically) this should change. For instance, GMH releases a new type of fuel injection system for the new model cars then all the mechanics supporting GMH have to upskill to keep with the trends, Doctors do this with medical techniques, and computers are no different, its simply an industry thing.
Say Dell was to sell Linux Desktop (which they say they are) their staff will have to upskill. Eventually it trickles down into the smaller and mid-scale business and eventually will be come as prominent as MSCE. The problem is Microsoft "thought" they were GMH, in fact they are simply a component of the car, in their own right the market is now seeing this for the 1st time and companies like Dell, etc have seen their power industry, this largely has to do with the fact Windows is doing badly in the retail market and only makes sales via their OEM distributors.
If it wasn't for this factor their stronghold on the market would of remained the same and they wouldn't be so harsh on restricting the support or distribution of OEM versions of XP (as the article suggests).
And the vast majority of forced Windows users are corporations. They have Windows Server 2003, Outlook, NetMeeting, etc. all integrated into their back office systems. They are not going to switch out their entire infrastructure to Linux due to some OEM issues.
They will if their IT officers actually took the time to see what the rest of the market offered. You'll find most of these "specific" solutions are not that specific to Microsoft branded software anymore. And if you can show the cost of migrating their systems to the new Microsoft software (all new vista etc) against other alternate solutions and show the definite cost advantage then businesses will defiantly change over.
The fear that you have as an sysadmin is (well founded however) the reason why your infrastructure wont change. Consider, You move over to open source and you fail doing so then yes you'll loose your job and look bad to your bosses. Pick a Microsoft solution to do the job and it fails, you'll keep your job and simply blame Microsoft for your failure.
AND THAT MY FRIEND! is a true tech admins duty these days :)
Eventually, as it always happens, there will be bug releases and new drivers for Windows Vista. Upgrading to them is as easily as doing "Windows Update." Linux (and BSD) distros will never be this easily patched due to the very nature of being open source. I only have to go to 1 web site to update my PC's - Windows Update - and it's incredibly simple - just click on Update and voila, it's done and everything works.
Again, wrong, Ubuntu has software update service siting in their version of the systray where windows has theirs.
And Microsofts turn around on patches have been worse then mac and Linux's track record in the past. Despite what you may think, Linux and MacOS foundation and design is better equipped to deal with legacy issues and the implementation patches. Microsoft has struggled continuously with this issue and if im correct recently struggled releasing a set of patches just the other day, I think this is the 3rd day in a row Microsoft had to do an update on my PC, the 2nd update left my pc with a memory violation which the next update had to fix.
My advise is really see the new and upcoming, linux developers arnet really that short sighted to allow the same issues that has always been an issue get in the way this time.
For all of the quirks and problems that Vista has (I bought a Dell laptop with Vista but installed XP instead), it is still much, much simpler than Linux for your average user: mom & pop, teenage / college kids, young professionals.
I don't agree with that statement, the differences between vista and xp are the same between macos and windows, and in this case windows and linux.
That argument could of been made a year ago, now its not the case.. Really its not, i have my 2nd language english speaking girlfriend who has used windows all her life switch over to ubuntu within a day, the only difference for her is the start button is at the top of the screen.
If it breaks she calls a techy (me) to fix it, If it were windows, same diff.
I remember a Jay Leno episode not so long ago where he was asking religious questions on the street.
.. one person said 250 million years ago.
:)
The question "when did Jesus die?" people said 200 years ago, 450 years ago
Need i say more
Hackers, shmakers, try not pointing the finger at an easy (and less harmful) target created from propaganda media or a misguided opinionated blog writer.
Name one hacker that has caused _any_ serious ecnomical problems on the internet so far? And if it was, it was usually done incidentally, not as the focus of the excersise.
Its organised crime sydnicates that instigate ddos attacks on corporations. So consider, would you perfer some comp sci geek, teenage kid in their moms basement discovering such holes and then reporting them to bug traq? Or would you like hired professionals who are given big wads of cash under the table to create malicious applications and provide them to people who wish to insinuate the illegal and malicious use of the code on persons/organisations?
These days companys need to protect themselfs from being held at ransom by such people, not the kids, the kids have and always just been having fun being smarter then everyone else.