Oh, but M$ IS the evil spawn of Satan - just look how you can change "Bill Gates" into ASCII, then add 3 (for III) and get 666, or did you know that you can rearrange the letters of "Microsoft Incorporated" to spell "Sacred to moronic profit"?? What more proof do you need?!?!
But seriously, if history is any guide, and unless they've suddenly sprouted a 'nice' gene, I'd be very suspicious of anything the cash flow sucking vampires do, or any 'R&D' they offer as tantamount to the privitization and commoditization of what should remain a public utility.
Gawd, the whole thing almost sounds like Heathers or the Toxic Avenger or something.
I must have gotten lucky to survive Hellmouth High by signing up for 'vocational', which meant spending half the day away from the main school engrossed in Electronics, which I really enjoyed, no matter what anyone thought. But that was mid 70's.
Read it first time - really tackles a big subject, easily misunderstood. Would like to take a course in Gödel, like one GJ teaches (complete w/ source code).
And another thing-- whenever people say M$ got where they are today because 'the people freely choose it' I have to wonder about the validity of that argument in time. Say a majority of people made purchasing decisions in 1988-1992, and that Win3x came out on top and os/2, et. al. got a smaller part of the sales pie. Does that give them the right to deny FURTURE generations of decision makers the freedom to choose? The way it turns out is like a vote - during a brief period of competitiveness the people, by some twist of logic and marketing, 'choose' m$ - does that mean that from then on we have to be saddled with whatever claptrap they want to foist on us from then on forever and ever? It's like freely electing your dictator for life and hereafter. We want a choice NOW and always, not be forced to use something that was decided on eons ago (in computer evolution time).
Yeah, we like the bit about "a transition course for Windows NT administrators." I wonder if that'll be like a 12-step program
My name is Chuck and I'm a, a {sob} NT Admin. It used to be so easy! Just pop in a CD, type setup, collect a paycheck. But then I started becoming weak and dependant on 'upgrades' and 'service paks'. Next thing I knew I couldn't do anything without paying my local pusher $89.95 a hit. It was either that or go to jail. But I do beleive in a higher power which can break the devastating grip it has had on my career and my family. Thank you
Hmmmm... combine this with one of those ultra miniature computers and customize your own portable player; may look a little ho-made and cost more but you can make it anyway you want and learn a bit in the process.
But the deal is: every machine I put SCO on I have to cough up a license fee; a big cost of s/w is the config and support, to make it useful to a business or individual - NOT a fee just to install and hang an O'Ficcial license on the wall next to the box to admire.
"anticipated strong demand for Linux systems, software and services. " Yeah! Hopefully they'll be experts on, say, printer support - I use an inexpensive HP540 inkjet on FreeBSD w/ Ghostscript and Samba for printing from WinNT desks; real sweet.:))
Today's M$ stupid moment: having to kick everyone off or wait until afterhours to reboot a critical NT server, just because a new modem was plugged in. Stupid, stupid, stupid....:((
"anticipated strong demand for Linux systems, software and services. " Yeah! Hopefully they'll be experts on, say, printer support - I use an inexpensive HP540 inkjet on FreeBSD w/ Ghostscript and Samba for printing from WinNT desks; real sweet.:))
Today's M$ stupid moment: having to kick everyone off or wait until afterhours to reboot a critical NT server, just because a new modem was plugged in. Stupid, stupid, stupid....
Just have the nurse roll my wheelchair over to the window of the Old Fogies home so I can watch it happen.
Chuck (40+ and lovin' it)...
75 tons/year discarded electronics - M$ should pay
on
Quickielanche
·
· Score: 1
I would hypothesize (and this would have to be backed up with some study) that of that 75 tons/year of discarded electronics in MA alone, a good 80% of it is in working condition, and a good 80% of that was tossed simply as M$ bloatware 'upgrade' blatter. Ergo, M$ should foot the Bill:) for it's environmentally safe disposal.
"And If I'm elected president everyone will get a free BMW, a 2000 sq ft house, more vacation time, and no taxes!!!" the crowd goes wild....
Lets see, first we'll need a constitutional amendment.... Then we'll need to convince George Lucas to spend $150mil (or whatever) to produce "Star Wars" so we all can watch it for free - oh, wait a minute, no, everyone will work for free - How about "To each according to their need, from each arrcording to their abilities" - Suddenly I have lots of needs and little ability.
And forget about trying to establish a reputation, since, w/o trademark protection anyone can steal your identity for their own benefit.
Oh, and one last point - M$ has ALREADY vastly profited from one aspect of the open source development model: the use of customers as unwitting beta testers who bought the vapor ware adverts, and then helped finish the products as they (the customers) dug up all the quirks that slipped by the limited in house testing as it was rushed to market.
I'm an old fogey and remember a lot of computer hobbyists who felt like they were part of the uP fueled anti-IBM mainframe gang, and did a lot of volunteer work for M$ in cleaning up their act, and who are now feel completely alienated and abandoned, as if M$ were saying, "thanks for your help, SUCKER!'.
Actually, whether or not M$ has good coders on the payroll, the point is M$ *USERS*, being mostly spoon fed computer illiterate (nothing really bad there either, it's a large market) would make a mess if they attempted to fix the annoying bugs, quirks and features in a M$ product themselves, were it made open source.
Yehee - had one also, esp. cool that it was 'not acceptable', nobody got hurt, but sure made a nice low 'poof'. Bet one would bring a pretty penny on eBay auctions.
Well, the Economist has to sell issues to make a profit, and an article, to garner interest has to tell you something you DON'T know, or challange your current beleifs. When I learned to type, it was qwerty or nothing. Nobody offered, "Hey, you may want to try this other system". It's almost like your system of weights and measures or currency handed down w/o choice. The US made an attempt at converting to metrics in the 70's but didn't follow thru. Is this because the avoirdupois system is market chosen as inherently more economically efficient than the metric or because of the formidible changeover cost?
"My car gets 4 cords to the furlong and that's the way I like it" - Abraham Simpson
1) Remember, the average IQ is, by definition, only 100.
2) A good strategy would be like whut Bushnell said about video games: make them easy to learn (so the player is quickly 'engaged' in the game) and difficult to master (so it can be challenging to the advanced player). An ideal Linux would have something for everyone (Face it, that's what M$ tries to do) - for the neophyte, it would come from a store preloaded with the os, browser, office suite, Internet dialup, printer, ready to plug in, hook to the phone, turn on and hit the net running, or writing letters, creating databases, publishing web pages, etc, etc, as easy as sliding in an antorun CD. If enough boxes were sold like that the initial development cost could be brough way down.
Later on, as the user becomes more experienced, s/he could graduate all the way up to kernel hacking and development if they so desire.
It would also have to have some way of makeing system backup easily, snapshots - that way a nervous user could make a backup of their entire system, then change various configs or install software and if they hose it, boot the recovery floppy and and do a restore to the last backup. (That's what I do even with M$ products, GHOST is great for that!)
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, but M$ IS the evil spawn of Satan - just look how you can change "Bill Gates" into ASCII, then add 3 (for III) and get 666, or did you know that you can rearrange the letters of "Microsoft Incorporated" to spell "Sacred to moronic profit"?? What more proof do you need?!?!
But seriously, if history is any guide, and unless they've suddenly sprouted a 'nice' gene, I'd be very suspicious of anything the cash flow sucking vampires do, or any 'R&D' they offer as tantamount to the privitization and commoditization of what should remain a public utility.
Chuck
Also, you can read Dave's weekly columns here.
From an older column (paraphrasing from memory)
"Every day, Microsoft gets calls like this:
Business: Help! Our entire worldwide accounting system is locked up, and no matter what we type it just says, 'Who wants to know? Signed: DOS'
M$:Haha! I mean, sounds pretty serious.
Business: We'll give you a million dollars if you tell us how to fix it.
M$: Ok, press the NUM-LOCK key.
Business: So THAT's what that thing does. Thanks! The check is in the mail!"
and then:
" 'Windows' was designed as a security measure to thwart those somehow able to get past DOS."
Chuck
As we used to say, in a small town one lawyer will starve, but two lawyers can make a darn good living. :]
Chuck
Gawd, the whole thing almost sounds like Heathers or the Toxic Avenger or something.
I must have gotten lucky to survive Hellmouth High by signing up for 'vocational', which meant spending half the day away from the main school engrossed in Electronics, which I really enjoyed, no matter what anyone thought. But that was mid 70's.
Chuck
Read it first time - really tackles a big subject, easily misunderstood. Would like to take a course in Gödel, like one GJ teaches (complete w/ source code).
I am. NOT!
Chuck
And another thing-- whenever people say M$ got where they are today because 'the people freely choose it' I have to wonder about the validity of that argument in time. Say a majority of people made purchasing decisions in 1988-1992, and that Win3x came out on top and os/2, et. al. got a smaller part of the sales pie. Does that give them the right to deny FURTURE generations of decision makers the freedom to choose? The way it turns out is like a vote - during a brief period of competitiveness the people, by some twist of logic and marketing, 'choose' m$ - does that mean that from then on we have to be saddled with whatever claptrap they want to foist on us from then on forever and ever? It's like freely electing your dictator for life and hereafter. We want a choice NOW and always, not be forced to use something that was decided on eons ago (in computer evolution time).
Chuck
Yeah, we like the bit about "a transition course for Windows NT administrators." I wonder if that'll be like a 12-step program
My name is Chuck and I'm a, a {sob} NT Admin. It used to be so easy! Just pop in a CD, type setup, collect a paycheck. But then I started becoming weak and dependant on 'upgrades' and 'service paks'. Next thing I knew I couldn't do anything without paying my local pusher $89.95 a hit. It was either that or go to jail. But I do beleive in a higher power which can break the devastating grip it has had on my career and my family. Thank you
Chuck
Gary Kildall would approve.
Chuck
Hmmmm... combine this with one of those ultra miniature computers and customize your own portable player; may look a little ho-made and cost more but you can make it anyway you want and learn a bit in the process.
Chuck
But the deal is: every machine I put SCO on I have to cough up a license fee; a big cost of s/w is the config and support, to make it useful to a business or individual - NOT a fee just to install and hang an O'Ficcial license on the wall next to the box to admire.
Chuck
"anticipated strong demand for Linux systems, software and services. " Yeah! Hopefully they'll be experts on, say, printer support - I use an inexpensive HP540 inkjet on FreeBSD w/ Ghostscript and Samba for printing from WinNT desks; real sweet. :))
:((
Today's M$ stupid moment: having to kick everyone off or wait until afterhours to reboot a critical NT server, just because a new modem was plugged in. Stupid, stupid, stupid....
Chuck
"anticipated strong demand for Linux systems, software and services. " Yeah! Hopefully they'll be experts on, say, printer support - I use an inexpensive HP540 inkjet on FreeBSD w/ Ghostscript and Samba for printing from WinNT desks; real sweet. :))
Today's M$ stupid moment: having to kick everyone off or wait until afterhours to reboot a critical NT server, just because a new modem was plugged in. Stupid, stupid, stupid....
Chuck
Just have the nurse roll my wheelchair over to the window of the Old Fogies home so I can watch it happen.
Chuck (40+ and lovin' it)...
I would hypothesize (and this would have to be backed up with some study) that of that 75 tons/year of discarded electronics in MA alone, a good 80% of it is in working condition, and a good 80% of that was tossed simply as M$ bloatware 'upgrade' blatter. Ergo, M$ should foot the Bill :) for it's environmentally safe disposal.
Chuck
... You can't get there from here
Chuck
"And If I'm elected president everyone will get a
free BMW, a 2000 sq ft house, more vacation time, and no taxes!!!" the crowd goes wild....
Lets see, first we'll need a constitutional amendment.... Then we'll need to convince George Lucas to spend $150mil (or whatever) to produce "Star Wars" so we all can watch it for free - oh, wait a minute, no, everyone will work for free -
How about "To each according to their need, from each arrcording to their abilities" - Suddenly I have lots of needs and little ability.
And forget about trying to establish a reputation, since, w/o trademark protection anyone can steal your identity for their own benefit.
Chuck
Oh, and one last point - M$ has ALREADY vastly profited from one aspect of the open source development model: the use of customers as unwitting beta testers who bought the vapor ware adverts, and then helped finish the products as they (the customers) dug up all the quirks that slipped by the limited in house testing as it was rushed to market.
I'm an old fogey and remember a lot of computer hobbyists who felt like they were part of the uP fueled anti-IBM mainframe gang, and did a lot of volunteer work for M$ in cleaning up their act, and who are now feel completely alienated and abandoned, as if M$ were saying, "thanks for your help, SUCKER!'.
Chuck
Actually, whether or not M$ has good coders on the payroll, the point is M$ *USERS*, being mostly spoon fed computer illiterate (nothing really bad there either, it's a large market) would make a mess if they attempted to fix the annoying bugs, quirks and features in a M$ product themselves, were it made open source.
Chuck
Not only that, but can you imagine the frankenstein a legion of MS hackers would
come up with {{shudder}}
Chuck
... of being like one of the characters in
The Spot or, more likely, it's parody, The Squat.
Chuck
Yehee - had one also, esp. cool that it was 'not acceptable', nobody got hurt, but sure made a nice low 'poof'. Bet one would bring a pretty penny on eBay auctions.
Chuck
Well, the Economist has to sell issues to make a profit, and an article, to garner interest has to tell you something you DON'T know, or challange your current beleifs. When I learned to type, it was qwerty or nothing. Nobody offered, "Hey, you may want to try this other system". It's almost like your system of weights and measures or currency handed down w/o choice. The US made an attempt at converting to metrics in the 70's but didn't follow thru. Is this because the avoirdupois system is market chosen as inherently more economically efficient than the metric or because of the formidible changeover cost?
"My car gets 4 cords to the furlong and that's the way I like it" - Abraham Simpson
Chuck
...programmed into a positronic neural net to
RULE US ALL after Neat-O establishes the new UN global one world order
wait, it the day AFTER 4/1
BooBOo
Why those slimy bastards! I was just enjoying
the comics and suddenly 'free speech' has been
revolked. Developing hard....
BooBoo
1) Remember, the average IQ is, by definition, only 100.
2) A good strategy would be like whut Bushnell said about video games: make them easy to learn (so the player is quickly 'engaged' in the game) and difficult to master (so it can be challenging to the advanced player). An ideal Linux would have something for everyone (Face it, that's what M$ tries to do) - for the neophyte, it would come from a store preloaded with the os, browser, office suite, Internet dialup, printer, ready to plug in, hook to the phone, turn on and hit the net running, or writing letters, creating databases, publishing web pages, etc, etc, as easy as sliding in an antorun CD. If enough boxes were sold like that the initial development cost could be brough way down.
Later on, as the user becomes more experienced, s/he could graduate all the way up to kernel hacking and development if they so desire.
It would also have to have some way of makeing system backup easily, snapshots - that way
a nervous user could make a backup of their entire system, then change various configs or install software and if they hose it, boot the recovery floppy and and do a restore to the last backup.
(That's what I do even with M$ products,
GHOST is great for that!)
BooBOo