I am also convinced that the DOJ acted just in time to prevent Microsoft from really throwing its weight around hardware vendors. When I say "hardware vendors", I mean companies that make processors, video cards, sound cards, and other components, not OEMs like Compaq and Dell. I imagine many of you Linux users have been ticked off when you found that your favorite component you used under Windows won't work under Linux because only Windows drivers have been released, and the part's specs are under an NDA. I see no reason why a company with as many connections and resources as Microsoft would not have been able pressure most hardware vendors into producing only Windows-capable products after learning about potential OS threats on the x86 platform like Linux and BeOS. One way this could happen is if Windows simply refused to interact with a component not on some list of approved parts. A component would be approved if only Windows drivers existed for it and the vendor promised to keep enough information secret about it to make rolling one's own driver an extremely difficult task. While this approach probably would not have worked on the large companies like Intel and Creative Labs, I believe enough smaller companies could have been coereced by Microsoft's tactics to ensure Linux and other OS's could not thrive on the Intel platform. Now that the proverbial Linux horse is out of the barn, Microsoft really can't do much to suppress it by using this or any other unfair tactic. By investigating Microsoft for grounds for serious antitrust charges, the DOJ deterred Microsoft from leveraging their OS monopoly in this manner. I would imagine that if Microsoft considered this technique, the punishment would have been more swift and severe than anything that will come out of the browser trial. If it weren't for the DOJ, there would have been no deterrent for this action, and as a result Microsoft could have gained an even tighter hold on the desktop than they have ever previously enjoyed.
This is truely scarry!
Back then, the "alternate" OS group was very small compared to what it is today. But, I'm sure the truth would've come out. Some magazine would be informed, headline news, now THAT would receive swift action from the courts!
However, I don't let the business practices of the companies involved dictate my choice of operating system. Nor do I base my choice on my ideas of 'free as in speech', or even 'free as in beer'. Nope, I've decided 0on Windows because I can use it to get the job done with the minimum of fuss in almost all circumstances. I love the idea of Linux, BeOS, *BSD, any and all free operating systems and open source software in general. I just don't like the practical aspect of using them.
Ok now, doesn't this sound like a marketing speech from the MS sales dept?
I don't consider myself to be a geek by the standards people on here seem to apply (I mainly use my computer for 3D art, in fact), so maybe what I'm saying isn't true for everyone. But for my needs, NT/9x are stable enough and give me months of use with virtually no maintainance, run all the software I need or use, and don't stand between me and what I want to do. On the occasions it has crashed, and yes there have been quite a few, a reboot has sufficed. So, when people talk about how unstable Windows is, I take it with a very large pinch of salt, because I can see the FUD going both ways. Your above statement is a perfect example of the instability of windows.
Seriously now, every person going from an environment they are comfortable in, to one that is completely new will feel uneasy.
You just need to give it some more time.
I have been using linux for 1.5 years. Everything I do in servers or automated tasks are done with linux. But, my desktop is win98. My mom's comp will be NT4 workstation.
Over time I have noticed myself spending more of my time on linux. My company's email server is going to be on linux, and it's file server too, which are currently on macs:|
Over time, I think linux will eventually get my desktop, but not for a while.
What I am trying to say, is that I have come across child porn maybe 4-5 times over the last three years.
Spam by far outnumbers it by 1000 times, at least.
Anyway, I'm not saying that "two clicks" and you find it. I'm just saying that I have seen it while browsing. Although, not while browsing for non-porn sites.
What you are purchasing is a license to legally use that hardware, similar to a software license. When you purchase a piece of software, you don't own that software. You can't disassemble the software and modify it to do something else, and still expect the company who wrote it to be ok with what you've done. Most license agreements specifically forbid modifications of any kind.
That may be true for the new agreement just announced, but not for the time period before it was announced.
I'd like to know where it says on my monitor that it is licensed and I can't take it appart. Besides that it will void the warranty.
Copyright today by Webmoth. Not to be stored, read, or retransmitted by any means involving Microsoft products. Too late. I'm reading this from NT4 sp6. This is the perfect web site EULA! Just add a $1 charge for every violation.;)
Seriously now, if you don't know where it is, how are you going to retrieve it?
If you send a broadcast across freenet for this file, the responding server would be the one with the files. Thus, giving away the location of the file.
Slashdot Mirror
which sh*tty product are you talking about?
Can you be more specific about "Desktop management"?
If you are thinking of remote login/shell, there is a whole world you need to know.
This is truely scarry!
Back then, the "alternate" OS group was very small compared to what it is today. But, I'm sure the truth would've come out. Some magazine would be informed, headline news, now THAT would receive swift action from the courts!
Ok now, doesn't this sound like a marketing speech from the MS sales dept?
I don't consider myself to be a geek by the standards people on here seem to apply (I mainly use my computer for 3D art, in fact), so maybe what I'm saying isn't true for everyone. But for my needs, NT/9x are stable enough and give me months of use with virtually no maintainance, run all the software I need or use, and don't stand between me and what I want to do. On the occasions it has crashed, and yes there have been quite a few, a reboot has sufficed. So, when people talk about how unstable Windows is, I take it with a very large pinch of salt, because I can see the FUD going both ways. Your above statement is a perfect example of the instability of windows.
Seriously now, every person going from an environment they are comfortable in, to one that is completely new will feel uneasy.
You just need to give it some more time.
I have been using linux for 1.5 years. Everything I do in servers or automated tasks are done with linux. But, my desktop is win98. My mom's comp will be NT4 workstation.
Over time I have noticed myself spending more of my time on linux. My company's email server is going to be on linux, and it's file server too, which are currently on macs :|
Over time, I think linux will eventually get my desktop, but not for a while.
What do you think the new OS would be based on?
Unix? No. File permissions, command line, nooooo I don't think so.
I wonder if AOL would be able to do this, and keep it even close to the stability of linux or xBSD.
What I am trying to say, is that I have come across child porn maybe 4-5 times over the last three years.
Spam by far outnumbers it by 1000 times, at least.
Anyway, I'm not saying that "two clicks" and you find it. I'm just saying that I have seen it while browsing. Although, not while browsing for non-porn sites.
BTW, every sighting was on usenet.
OMFG!!!
This just cracked me up!
Someone should put this on a joke list or something.
I don't think he is using the "beowulf" term correctly.
It appears that he is running parts of a computation on different computers, not splitting the full computation across the cluster dynamically.
Mike
If you are already looking for p0rn, you will come across child porn. Especially in usenet, although it is rare, it is there. Just like the spam.
I would estimate it at about a thousand messages out of millions. That is a relativly small number.
That may be true for the new agreement just announced, but not for the time period before it was announced.
I'd like to know where it says on my monitor that it is licensed and I can't take it appart. Besides that it will void the warranty.
MikeF
Copyright today by Webmoth. Not to be stored, read, or retransmitted by any means involving Microsoft products. Too late. I'm reading this from NT4 sp6. This is the perfect web site EULA! Just add a $1 charge for every violation. ;)
Ahh, so we finally found a use for MS proxy.... ;)
Seriously now, if you don't know where it is, how are you going to retrieve it?
If you send a broadcast across freenet for this file, the responding server would be the one with the files. Thus, giving away the location of the file.
Can you explain?