I agree. I've been called a Linux zealot for trying to quash myths about my OS of choice, but this campaign strikes me as unfair towards Microsoft. Many of the same criticisms could be made of Linux distributions: no major reason to upgrade, lack of driver support, the new version uses more RAM/disk space than the old version, the list goes on. Any criticisms that don't involve moving to new technologies could be made about the current versions of windows.
I disagree with your assessment of the desktop readiness of Linux. I've been running Ubuntu Linux on my desktop for over a year now, and recently decided to install it on my laptop. I've found the hardware support to be great.
Printer: Ubuntu: I plug in my printer, go to the Kubuntu Systems settings panel, printers, add printer, select the driver from a list and I'm ready to print. Total time, 2 minutes. Windows: I plug in my printer, go to the Add Printer wizard. Search for my printer on a list of printers. It's not there. Spend 15 minutes searching for the proper driver. After finding and apparently installing the driver, it still doesn't show up on the list of available drivers. I install the printer using another driver, then change it to point at the proper driver. Total time, 30 minutes.
Camera:
Background: When I got my camera, I did not buy a cable to connect it to my PC. My laptop has a built in SD reader, so I decided it would be cheapest just to pop out the card and put it in my card reader. Windows: Pop in the SD card. Windows Explorer pops up with the card's content. Total time, 15 seconds. Ubuntu: Pop in the SD card. Nothing happens. One search query on Ubuntuforums.org, follow a few simple directions. Pop in the card again. Konqueror pops up with the card's content. Total time, 2 minutes.
Wireless internet
The wireless card for my laptop was automatically recognized in Ubuntu, and preinstalled in Windows. I have however installed wireless cards in both Windows and Linux machines. Windows: Open up the computer's case. Insert the card into an open PCI slot. Boot up the computer. Install the drivers from the CD that came with the card. Reboot. It works. Total time: 25 minutes. Ubuntu: Open up the computer's case. Insert the card into an open PCI slot. Boot up the computer. It works. Total time: 15 minutes.
DVDRW Burner Windows: It just works. Total time, 0 minutes. Ubuntu: It just works. Total time, 0 minutes.
Bluetooth Devices
I have several bluetooth devices. My phone, my mouse, my wireless headset. All were easily accessed using KDE's Bluetooth manager. On Windows, my phone and my mouse were easily setup, but I never was able to get my headset working properly.
Office Suite Windows: A 60 day trial of Microsoft Office came preinstalled on my laptop. I had an unused license for an older version, so I had to uninstall the preinstalled version and install the new one myself. After much irritation with the slow performance of MS office (I'll admit that's probably because it was an older version) I decided to install OpenOffice and try it out. I never looked back. When my mom bought a new computer, I immediately uninstalled the trial of MS Office and installed OpenOffice. Once I introduced her to the new icons, she had no trouble adapting to the new suite. Linux: OpenOffice pre-installed. It runs just fine on Linux, though I don't know about your Mac. It may not have all the features of MS office, but it has all the features I need from an office suite.
Video Card
You've got me here. Every video card I've ever used in Linux has had open source drivers created using official specifications. I understand that there are some video cards that don't work well in Linux. If you must have a top of the line video card, you're out of luck with Linux.
There are a few other things I've done fairly easily with Linux that I can't imagine doing with Windows - software raid, managing partitions with LVM, updating core software without needing to reboot, 100+ days uptime, a composite desktop window manager (Beryl), running without a software firewall or anti-virus, the list goes on.
Now for the original question: I wouldn't say I hate Microsoft. I feel that they have unfairly stifled their competition. Try finding a desktop computer with Linux preinstalled from an OEM, o
I use Linux because I feel it's a better, more secure, more stable, more flexible operating system. I believe that all of the kernel modules on my system are Free, but if I had to install one proprietary driver to get my graphics card working, I'd much prefer that one proprietary driver to an entire proprietary operating system.
In fact, doesn't using hydrogen for energy create (fresh) water as an exhaust? If the water problem becomes as significant as people are predicting it will, and hydrogen becomes a viable source of portable energy, we'll probably start extracting hydrogen from ocean water, and collecting the exhaust from our cars to drink (this may not be necessary, as moving water further inland may increase the on-land precipitation).
I completely agree. I've been resisting the urge to read all the comments attached to this article because I know there would be so many fallacies in them.
If you don't believe me, go get a clear glass. Put water in it and drop in a few ice cubes. Mark the level of the glass. Come back a few hours later. Is the water above the mark? If you answered yes, there was enough ice in the glass that it went all the way to the bottom and the ice was not floating to begin with - it's the equivalent of land based ice.
It's simple physics - an area in which I am well versed. Please learn something before you suggest people are ignorant or stupid - or mod down my comments.
No. Arctic ice is floating. When it freezes it expands, when it melts it contracts. These have no effect on sea level. Antarctic ice is what could raise sea level, because it's land based.
As a former iTMS user, I have to disagree about iTunes music being overpriced. There have been a number of times I've only wanted one song from an album, and it's much cheaper to pay $.99 for one song than $12.99 for a full CD, plus the gas it takes to go get and the time it takes to rip it. And when I do want an entire album, it's still usually cheaper on iTMS than it would be in the stores. Also, the iTMS quality is fine. I have a set of high quality headphones and a fairly sharp set of ears, and I can't tell the difference between CD quality and 128 kbps AAC.
I certainly agree though that it's silly to say you don't like iPods because you don't like the iTMS (whether your excuse is price, quality, DRM, etc.). The reason I'm a former iTMS user was my switch to Linux - and Amarok handles my iPod just fine. The iPod is good hardware. I've had mine for 3 years and the battery will still make it on an 8 hour car ride without needing a recharge. It's also has some of the best accessory support around. I recently got a dock in my car that lets me control the iPod from the head unit of the radio.
Finally, anyone who's reason for disliking an iPod is the lack of ogg vorbis support should look at Rockbox or iPod Linux.
Beryl is more than just eye candy. Sure windows that wobble when you move them and rain that falls on your desktop and organizing virtual desktops on a cube are more or less useless, but Beryl has some really useful features. It does take a few hours to get used to all the shortcuts, but Beryl's scale feature (similar to Expose) is quite useful and easy to use. I've also found that being able to control the opacity with Alt + scroll wheel has proved more useful than I'd expect. With Beryl, Alt - Tab becomes much more intuitive, as windows you tab to come to the front and the rest all drop to 20% opacity. Being able to zoom in on any part of the desktop can be useful at times, as can moving windows around with the number pad.
Having never really used Aqua or Aero, I'm not trying to compare Beryl to them, but I can say that Beryl is a significant improvement to the standard Linux Desktop Environments (KDE and Gnome), and much nicer than the XP desktop.
Integration with iTunes was made as a convenience to help the average iPod owner update and manage their iPod. The integration is not forced though. iPods can be used with WinAmp, ephPod, and a few others on Windows. I use Linux, and I have no problem updating my iPod using Amarok, and I know there are some other options as well. A Windows Smartphone might be forced integration (I honestly don't know, I've never used one), but I'd be very surprised if the iPhone doesn't have alternative managers within a month of its release.
Personally, I look forward to seeing the iPhone. I have a RAZR, and it leaves a lot to be desired. I suspect Apple could do a very good job designing a cell phone and making it functional.
Yes, but Microsoft frequently uses shady tactics to smear the alternatives. An example is the recent claims that Linux violates Microsoft intellectual property. They won't say what IP, they simply charge people a royalty for using this undisclosed IP. I suspect that once SCO has cleared up, Microsoft may be seeing some Linux distributors in court over these accusations (and not by Microsoft's choice).
Another example of forcing people to use Microsoft products is how they won't let vendors sell PCs without Windows. Last summer I spent a lot of time searching for somewhere I could buy a PC with no OS, intending to install Ubuntu on it. The only places I could find them were small mom and pop shops in my home town, and they were severely overpriced. HP, Dell, Sony, Gateway, etc. will not sell computers without operating systems, and won't advertise operating systems other than Windows. Ultimately I bought the parts and built my own machine. When I decide to upgrade my laptop, I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid buying Windows if I ultimately want to put Ubuntu on the machine. So while they aren't forcing me into using their software, I still feel they're forcing me into buying it (and really, what do they care if I use it once I've paid for it?).
90% of the spam I receive consists of senseless sentences, and images with almost equally senseless sentences in them. The vast majority of the time, I have absolutely no idea what the spammer even wants me to be doing. I can't distinguish any potential scams, products, viruses, etc. Perhaps GMail is removing viruses from the e-mails before they reach my spam folder, but I really don't know what these e-mails are supposed to be doing.
Probably, but this isn't a chain that's only as strong as it's weakest link. If you can cut costs on hard disks, but not on LCDs, you're still saving money.
I use Adblock with Firefox, but I only use it to block particular annoying ads. The ads on slashdot, for instance, are relatively unobtrusive, and don't flash or anything that would drive me to block it. When I do block an ad, I'll generally put a * somewhere pretty early in the string (such as http://ad.doubleclick.net/*), so anything from the obnoxious advertiser gets blocked. As soon as the advertiser puts up one obnoxious ad, I'm done with them.
Spam is another thing entirely. Some spam is advertisements, but when I look in my GMail spam folder half the crap I get doesn't make any sense at all. Looking at some of this, I don't even know what it's trying to tell me or advertise for.
Lumping advertisements (TV, Web, Radio, billboards, etc) with spam (e-mail) is silly. If you're blocking advertisements that come with a service you're using, you're affecting the income generated by the service your using. If you're blocking spam, you're avoiding completely senseless, unsolicited, unwanted junk that you have not done anything to receive.
My favorite game of all times is probably Legends of Zelda, A Link to the Past. While I don't know how much it cost to produce back in the early 90's (and reproduce for Gameboy a couple years ago), its mechanics are simple enough that I could probably crank out a similar engine in a month (two weeks if I didn't do anything else) - then the rest is developing maps and a storyline.
Game developers (and many gamers) seem to think that the only way to improve a game system is to remake the same games with better graphics and more realistic physics. While those can make some games interesting, I'd much rather see a game with a simple engine and an elaborate plot than a game with an elaborate engine and normal plot.
Not to speak for Napna, but I prefer to install everything from repositories if possible - I find it keeps my system running smoothly and keeps from breaking dependencies.
I'm thinking (hoping?) the post you're responding to was talking about the fud that would prevent less than knowledgeable managers from switching to OpenOffice. I may be wrong.
When I'm being tailgated, I go the speed limit, and not one bit above or below (even if I'd been doing 5 over before). I'm not about to let the person behind me make me speed up and make me responsible for an accident. I flash my break lights at the person as if to say "back off" and I try to give them an opportunity to pass if that's what they want to do, but if they're going to stay on my tail, I'm not going to play their game, I'm going to play it safe.
Probably true, but I do think the media companies would find a sharp decline in viewers if PVRs got outlawed I have a MythTV box, and frankly I'm not going to interrupt my daily life to go watch a TV show - the only way they're getting me as a viewer is if I can do it on my time. The only way they'll get me to watch commercials is to have a show that is so good I can't wait to watch it, so I'll watch it when it's airing - there are several shows that fall into that category, so it can be done.
I'm not trying to sound rebellious, but the fact is people have gotten used to having DVRs and being able to getting TV shows on their own time. I'm guessing most people would sooner forget about TV shows than start rearranging their life around their shows. DVRs are in the network's best interest - they just need to figure out how to profit from the shows, rather than the interruptions within them.
To a point, I agree. If I had mod points, I'd give some to you. I used to drive an SUV myself - but only because it was my first car and it was a gift. My mother wanted me in a big car so I'd be safe. Personally I thought I'd be safer in a car that stopped quicker and handled better so I could avoid accidents, but she didn't listen.
As soon as I had the opportunity I upgraded to something smaller. Now the SUVs drive me nuts. Their drivers are generally rather ignorant - I can't tell you how often I have an opportunity to turn right on red, but can't see around the asshole waiting for the light to turn green, so I'm just stuck.
I do think there are some legitimate uses for SUVs. If you genuinely enjoy off-roading, or need a larger vehicle for a hobby or work, I'm fine with that, but now you've got all these soccer moms who think they need an SUV for whatever reason. Fortunately gas prices are starting to correct these problems and driving the soccer moms back to their mini-vans, which aren't quite so bad.
Not all people who drive SUVs are idiots, and certainly not all idiots drive SUVs. And besides, if you ban SUVs, the idiots will just find something else to drive, so the lasers will still be needed.
it's pretty clear the media companies wouldn't approve of this.
Is it? We're not talking about music or (new) movies, we're talking about things that are being aired on TV. Every once in a while I'll miss an episode of one of my favorite shows and torrent it. A case point: The TV show Day Break is airing the entire series during a 12 week period. No reruns, no option to buy on iTunes, and if you miss an episode, there's no legit way to catch up - so it's either torrent it, continue on in confusion, or forget about the series. I was intrigued by the first episode, but missed the second. Rather than drop the series, I torrented it so I could keep up. I'm sure ABC would rather have had me torrent one episode so that I'd watch the other 10 when they air.
Sure in the case of many shows, they'd rather you buy the DVD to get caught up on past seasons, but they're still coming out more or less ahead of they get a regular viewer from people downloading.
I don't have IE6 to test with, but I got the impression that this was more of an "Upgrade your browser" ad than "Use IE" advertisement. Most of the people I know didn't even know an update to IE was available. I'm guessing this advertisement was targeted at anyone not using IE, not just Firefox users.
I do think it's rather silly though, that they bother showing the advertisement to users who can't run IE7 anyway because it won't run on their operating system.
Vista isn't designed to make malware easy, it's a problem inherent in the design. When I read the headline I thought "Microsoft wants it easy to distribute malware?" But when I read further, it's just another misleading headline on slashdot.
I know how you feel. About the coolest thing I've ever built is my Linux box, and the only reason it's so cool is because it cost under $200 to build a slightly above average computer. And it rattles. Not cool.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree. I've been called a Linux zealot for trying to quash myths about my OS of choice, but this campaign strikes me as unfair towards Microsoft. Many of the same criticisms could be made of Linux distributions: no major reason to upgrade, lack of driver support, the new version uses more RAM/disk space than the old version, the list goes on. Any criticisms that don't involve moving to new technologies could be made about the current versions of windows.
Printer:
Ubuntu: I plug in my printer, go to the Kubuntu Systems settings panel, printers, add printer, select the driver from a list and I'm ready to print. Total time, 2 minutes.
Windows: I plug in my printer, go to the Add Printer wizard. Search for my printer on a list of printers. It's not there. Spend 15 minutes searching for the proper driver. After finding and apparently installing the driver, it still doesn't show up on the list of available drivers. I install the printer using another driver, then change it to point at the proper driver. Total time, 30 minutes.
Camera:
Background: When I got my camera, I did not buy a cable to connect it to my PC. My laptop has a built in SD reader, so I decided it would be cheapest just to pop out the card and put it in my card reader.
Windows: Pop in the SD card. Windows Explorer pops up with the card's content. Total time, 15 seconds.
Ubuntu: Pop in the SD card. Nothing happens. One search query on Ubuntuforums.org, follow a few simple directions. Pop in the card again. Konqueror pops up with the card's content. Total time, 2 minutes.
Wireless internet
The wireless card for my laptop was automatically recognized in Ubuntu, and preinstalled in Windows. I have however installed wireless cards in both Windows and Linux machines.
Windows: Open up the computer's case. Insert the card into an open PCI slot. Boot up the computer. Install the drivers from the CD that came with the card. Reboot. It works. Total time: 25 minutes.
Ubuntu: Open up the computer's case. Insert the card into an open PCI slot. Boot up the computer. It works. Total time: 15 minutes.
DVDRW Burner
Windows: It just works. Total time, 0 minutes.
Ubuntu: It just works. Total time, 0 minutes.
Bluetooth Devices
I have several bluetooth devices. My phone, my mouse, my wireless headset. All were easily accessed using KDE's Bluetooth manager. On Windows, my phone and my mouse were easily setup, but I never was able to get my headset working properly.
Office Suite
Windows: A 60 day trial of Microsoft Office came preinstalled on my laptop. I had an unused license for an older version, so I had to uninstall the preinstalled version and install the new one myself. After much irritation with the slow performance of MS office (I'll admit that's probably because it was an older version) I decided to install OpenOffice and try it out. I never looked back. When my mom bought a new computer, I immediately uninstalled the trial of MS Office and installed OpenOffice. Once I introduced her to the new icons, she had no trouble adapting to the new suite.
Linux: OpenOffice pre-installed. It runs just fine on Linux, though I don't know about your Mac. It may not have all the features of MS office, but it has all the features I need from an office suite.
Video Card
You've got me here. Every video card I've ever used in Linux has had open source drivers created using official specifications. I understand that there are some video cards that don't work well in Linux. If you must have a top of the line video card, you're out of luck with Linux.
There are a few other things I've done fairly easily with Linux that I can't imagine doing with Windows - software raid, managing partitions with LVM, updating core software without needing to reboot, 100+ days uptime, a composite desktop window manager (Beryl), running without a software firewall or anti-virus, the list goes on.
Now for the original question: I wouldn't say I hate Microsoft. I feel that they have unfairly stifled their competition. Try finding a desktop computer with Linux preinstalled from an OEM, o
I use Linux because I feel it's a better, more secure, more stable, more flexible operating system. I believe that all of the kernel modules on my system are Free, but if I had to install one proprietary driver to get my graphics card working, I'd much prefer that one proprietary driver to an entire proprietary operating system.
In fact, doesn't using hydrogen for energy create (fresh) water as an exhaust? If the water problem becomes as significant as people are predicting it will, and hydrogen becomes a viable source of portable energy, we'll probably start extracting hydrogen from ocean water, and collecting the exhaust from our cars to drink (this may not be necessary, as moving water further inland may increase the on-land precipitation).
I completely agree. I've been resisting the urge to read all the comments attached to this article because I know there would be so many fallacies in them.
It's simple physics - an area in which I am well versed. Please learn something before you suggest people are ignorant or stupid - or mod down my comments.
No. Arctic ice is floating. When it freezes it expands, when it melts it contracts. These have no effect on sea level. Antarctic ice is what could raise sea level, because it's land based.
I certainly agree though that it's silly to say you don't like iPods because you don't like the iTMS (whether your excuse is price, quality, DRM, etc.). The reason I'm a former iTMS user was my switch to Linux - and Amarok handles my iPod just fine. The iPod is good hardware. I've had mine for 3 years and the battery will still make it on an 8 hour car ride without needing a recharge. It's also has some of the best accessory support around. I recently got a dock in my car that lets me control the iPod from the head unit of the radio.
Finally, anyone who's reason for disliking an iPod is the lack of ogg vorbis support should look at Rockbox or iPod Linux.
Having never really used Aqua or Aero, I'm not trying to compare Beryl to them, but I can say that Beryl is a significant improvement to the standard Linux Desktop Environments (KDE and Gnome), and much nicer than the XP desktop.
Personally, I look forward to seeing the iPhone. I have a RAZR, and it leaves a lot to be desired. I suspect Apple could do a very good job designing a cell phone and making it functional.
Another example of forcing people to use Microsoft products is how they won't let vendors sell PCs without Windows. Last summer I spent a lot of time searching for somewhere I could buy a PC with no OS, intending to install Ubuntu on it. The only places I could find them were small mom and pop shops in my home town, and they were severely overpriced. HP, Dell, Sony, Gateway, etc. will not sell computers without operating systems, and won't advertise operating systems other than Windows. Ultimately I bought the parts and built my own machine. When I decide to upgrade my laptop, I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid buying Windows if I ultimately want to put Ubuntu on the machine. So while they aren't forcing me into using their software, I still feel they're forcing me into buying it (and really, what do they care if I use it once I've paid for it?).
90% of the spam I receive consists of senseless sentences, and images with almost equally senseless sentences in them. The vast majority of the time, I have absolutely no idea what the spammer even wants me to be doing. I can't distinguish any potential scams, products, viruses, etc. Perhaps GMail is removing viruses from the e-mails before they reach my spam folder, but I really don't know what these e-mails are supposed to be doing.
Probably, but this isn't a chain that's only as strong as it's weakest link. If you can cut costs on hard disks, but not on LCDs, you're still saving money.
Spam is another thing entirely. Some spam is advertisements, but when I look in my GMail spam folder half the crap I get doesn't make any sense at all. Looking at some of this, I don't even know what it's trying to tell me or advertise for.
Lumping advertisements (TV, Web, Radio, billboards, etc) with spam (e-mail) is silly. If you're blocking advertisements that come with a service you're using, you're affecting the income generated by the service your using. If you're blocking spam, you're avoiding completely senseless, unsolicited, unwanted junk that you have not done anything to receive.
Game developers (and many gamers) seem to think that the only way to improve a game system is to remake the same games with better graphics and more realistic physics. While those can make some games interesting, I'd much rather see a game with a simple engine and an elaborate plot than a game with an elaborate engine and normal plot.
Not to speak for Napna, but I prefer to install everything from repositories if possible - I find it keeps my system running smoothly and keeps from breaking dependencies.
I'm thinking (hoping?) the post you're responding to was talking about the fud that would prevent less than knowledgeable managers from switching to OpenOffice. I may be wrong.
When I'm being tailgated, I go the speed limit, and not one bit above or below (even if I'd been doing 5 over before). I'm not about to let the person behind me make me speed up and make me responsible for an accident. I flash my break lights at the person as if to say "back off" and I try to give them an opportunity to pass if that's what they want to do, but if they're going to stay on my tail, I'm not going to play their game, I'm going to play it safe.
I'm not trying to sound rebellious, but the fact is people have gotten used to having DVRs and being able to getting TV shows on their own time. I'm guessing most people would sooner forget about TV shows than start rearranging their life around their shows. DVRs are in the network's best interest - they just need to figure out how to profit from the shows, rather than the interruptions within them.
As soon as I had the opportunity I upgraded to something smaller. Now the SUVs drive me nuts. Their drivers are generally rather ignorant - I can't tell you how often I have an opportunity to turn right on red, but can't see around the asshole waiting for the light to turn green, so I'm just stuck.
I do think there are some legitimate uses for SUVs. If you genuinely enjoy off-roading, or need a larger vehicle for a hobby or work, I'm fine with that, but now you've got all these soccer moms who think they need an SUV for whatever reason. Fortunately gas prices are starting to correct these problems and driving the soccer moms back to their mini-vans, which aren't quite so bad.
Not all people who drive SUVs are idiots, and certainly not all idiots drive SUVs. And besides, if you ban SUVs, the idiots will just find something else to drive, so the lasers will still be needed.
Sure in the case of many shows, they'd rather you buy the DVD to get caught up on past seasons, but they're still coming out more or less ahead of they get a regular viewer from people downloading.
I do think it's rather silly though, that they bother showing the advertisement to users who can't run IE7 anyway because it won't run on their operating system.
Vista isn't designed to make malware easy, it's a problem inherent in the design. When I read the headline I thought "Microsoft wants it easy to distribute malware?" But when I read further, it's just another misleading headline on slashdot.
I know how you feel. About the coolest thing I've ever built is my Linux box, and the only reason it's so cool is because it cost under $200 to build a slightly above average computer. And it rattles. Not cool.