Don't plan to sell your first chip - Bob Colwell, former Intel chief architect
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Free Software Foundation knocks Windows 7
OPEN SOURCERERS at the Free Software Foundation are staging a demo in Boston in a bid to encourage businesses to throw away Microsoft Windows in favour of free alternatives.
Boston was of course the historic scene of a terrorist riot against its lawful government. It is unlikely the free software crowd will riot though, and any tea will just be drunk at a coffee bar with the outrageously high sales tax paid without any question or sense of irony.
The foundation is sending letters to the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, warning that Windows is a threat to business privacy, security and freedom.
The campaign is based around Microsoft's release of Windows 7, which Free Software Foundation Executive Director Peter Brown describes in apocalyptic language similar to the Book of Revelations.
Brown said the demo has to do with Microsoft's approach in general and not with the specifics of Windows 7. However it is always a good time to have a public moan when the Vole pushes a new version, he told CNET.
Unfortunately for Brown, Windows 7 is getting fairly positive reviews and Linux for the desktop is starting to look a little too much like the Vole's ageing Windows XP.
Brown admitted that it could be tougher to get public support against Windows 7 than it was with Vista.
It looks like the Open Sourcerers were too busy arguing about which esoteric piece of code they wanted to install in the next Linux kernel and missed their chance to knock Microsoft for six on the desktop while all it could offer was Vista.
Now if a business wants an alternative to Windows 7 it might decide to go with Apple, which is even more proprietary than the Vole.
The letter focuses on Microsoft, but the group is also concerned about other products, including the new Snow Leopard service pack from Apple, Brown said. That is coming out this week so he felt it should get a mention too. µ
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I earn my daily bread as a software developer using Linux
My daughter also uses Linux for day to day teenage tasks (don't ask for details!)
It just works :-)
Why do people always seem to forget the freedom of use part and just say open source..
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
and something for windows 7
http://slashdot.org/~twitter/journal/215957
@lost man:
Yeah. You're one of those folk that think those who work on free software work for free.
They obviously have paid jobs. And they obviously work on said paid jobs, and as the name states, they get paid for it.
And of course there can be something anyone can obtain entirely free. If I go down the road and see an apple tree in the middle of nowhere, and I take an apple and eat it, it's freaking FREE.
Besides, the "Free" in "Free Software" doesn't actually mean free of charge (there are Linux distros being sold out there). The "Free" in "Free software" means "Freedom".
(Plus: Almost all Linux distros are donation-driven, so your point is still moot: They have cash to fulfill their needs)
Hurts to admit it, doesn’t it?
Do you know anyone who works for free? and volntueer to live without food and water and other things he dosen't want money, and he doesn't expect anything just your freedom! and the only things he is thinking about is you.
and then think about a world which every thing is free.
it seems The bigest lie have ever told to the world is you can get something totally free.
Looks like everyone above me forgot to take there meds today!
Here have a handfull fo Zoloft, although I think some might need a little bit of lithium...
I know a lot of people say that Linux is difficult to support and that they use Windows for real work but I'm pretty sure that they're wrong. I use both systems and really the only thing Windows has got going for it is better icons. The rest of the time its trouble, especially if you have to work it hard. Its also quite slow. I think most of us have a job to do, we're not for ever installing this and that, and so we judge a computer not on the latest and greatest but how it works day in, day out.
For my work the unnecessary complexity of Windows 7 is just more problems. Its a "one size fits all" solution to a problem that's essentially modular, so I end up with a ton of crap I don't need that gets in the way of the stuff I do. Linux is just so much easier to set up, run and administer...
So sarcasm doesn't exist in your world-view? Is nothing sacred?
The Free Software Foundation are just annoyed that they can't even give their software away LOL
Windows 7 is just another ticket for continued servitude.
MS should be forced to support open file standards. They still exert monopoly forces on the market.
I do use windows (7 :P) for my desktop, but i was looking at the KDE website the other day, and it does look super nice and modern, nothing like windows xp
Ah yes, Linux, It is the OS of the future and it always will be.....
Perhaps if they spent more on extoling the virtues of Linux, (yes there are some) and less effort in bashing MS they might be taken more seriously.
Be where the 7 Deedly Sins will bring on the end of the cOSmOS and the coming of the Anti-Feature
The Anti-Feature
is functionality that a technology developer will charge users to not include...
of action that could become commonplace if the world becomes more filled with digital rights management technology
is thrashing your freedom
will only get you shedloads more stuck
and Him with the most stuck wins
is as unamiable as a witch, a blasphemer, a rebel, or a tyrant
villains, vassals, and retainers to the king of Bing
only serve to foment prejudice, jealousy, envy, animosity, and malevolence. They serve no ends but those of sophistry, fraud and the spirit of party.
Metaphysicians and politicians may dispute forever
Are we now so cowed that we are ashamed to proselytize for the system of liberty that has delivered the greatest freedom and prosperity? Or are we only against “imposition"?
Renounce, Detest and Execrate
Resolve to mete life on the digital affronteer as Mohawk Indians, or Daaleks
Renounce, Detest and Execrate
Ctrl, Alt and Delete
"Due to many support issues on Linux, and the fact that 9/10 issues cannot be solved without going into a shell and either typing a command or editing a configuration file (!) means that Linux is not anywhere near ready"
I don't know which rock this commentator's been living under for the last few years but it's been some time since I've resorted to the command line in Linux on the desktop. Even my Mum can use it.
As for the guy who reckons Linux and databases are expensive, I had to laugh. I've been a DBA for about twenty years and I think all the sites I've worked on have had exactly the opposite experience.
Doesn't mean I agree with the FSF though.
@TheINQ: Nicely pointed out about the terrorists :-)
The Amazon Kindle publicity disaster around eBooks pulled via digital restrictions management (DRM) has shown what Microsoft can do to your MP3s and movies via its Genuine Advantage program. Of course you will agree to it by accepting the license.
Have You read the fine print, Nick?
Doesn't matter what you pay for an OS and applications if it is insecure. Better to focus on its security and the opportunity cost of its use, combined with a comprehensive risk assessment of the goals from usage.
We jut want a secure OS 'out the box', not quite there yet with any of them!
SecurityBrad
www.secureitfoundation.org
What bothers me about the FSF more than anything is they honestly cannot substantiate their claims. It's the age-old argument year after year.
So if I need a database server running SQL 2008, licensed for two sockets plus software assurance, I'm looking at about $75 grand.
The FSF would argue that I need only spend about $10 grand only for the hardware.
To manage the Windows SQL server I need two DBAs and 1 Help Desk/Admin guy. Adding their salaries together, let's assume it costs $310K/yr in salaries.
Now, let's change to the linux system. You'd need at least 3 DBAs and 2 Help Desk Admins. Salary cost jumps to $495k/yr. It simply costs less to use Windows in the long run.
I don't even factor in the salaries that linux developers command because of their special knowledge of php, mysql, oracle, etc. Where we could have one guy in my whole company managing all of the windows servers, if something happened when that guy is on vacation, there would be a number of people we could bring in with zero notice to fix it; and some of the programmers could fix basic windows server errors. It's much more difficult to find proficient Linux guys at a moment's notice.
Too right Joe(above), we are the the colonial puppets of the US, thanks to that dumbo, Gordon Brown & his back scratcher Tony Blair.
I don't see that torch bearer of FREE software PIRATE BAY, jumping on the bandwagon of open sourcery just to knock M$,indeed, the biggest threat to freedom,privacy & security, are the biggest proponents of it...the US & UK governments!
The simple fact is Americans just grin broadly when referred to as Colonials or former British subjects or whatever.
It's a bit like when your favorite football team kicks the arse of the team you would most like to crush. You'll be in the crave ten years before the smile fades.
"... riot against its lawful government."
There may be another one.
Silly boy, the purpose of the Boston Tea Party was not to protest against high British prices or tax; it was to get rid of inconveniently cheap British tea so that the local merchants could raise their mark-up.
As always, read the history books by all means - but then ask yourself, "cui bono?" ("cherchez l'argent" if you prefer modern languages).
"It looks like the Open Sourcerers were too busy arguing about which esoteric piece of code they wanted to install in the next Linux kernel and missed their chance to knock Microsoft for six on the desktop while all it could offer was Vista."
That sums up the whole reason Linux will never be on the common desktop. Seriously Linux needs a kernel that is truly modular so everything doesn't have to be "integrated into the kernel tree". So installing something new is only a matter of hitting next next next next. Also a set of standards for configuring the rest of the system so you don't need to learn five damn different languages.
The FSF crowd like to think they have an alternative to Windows 7 - or even Windows XP, for most sane folks who use a computer to earn their daily bread.
However, the reality is far from the hype: Due to many support issues on Linux, and the fact that 9/10 issues cannot be solved without going into a shell and either typing a command or editing a configuration file (!) means that Linux is not anywhere near ready.
Sure, there will always be a few people who never use Windows apps and can cope with a command line, who switch to Linux and say "Hey, it's easy!" But for many, who still use Microsoft Access and Visual Basic (and for whom, porting the whole shebang to Linux is not an option), Windows will continue to be the order of the day.
When my mother can solve issues on Linux without calling me for help, then I would say it is ready for prime-time. However, I'm not holding my breath - and I won't do for at least 15-20 years, because the Linux /geek crowd simply do not tolerate people who do not have their level of experience or knowledge, and the average user does not have the patience to RTFM or STFW: They just expect it to work.
I expect Haiku to take the desktop before Linux is anywhere near ready. (I'd say OS X, if it weren't for Apple's unfortunate decision to only sell it with a hardware dongle.) And that's despite Haiku's abominable hardware support: At least it is easy to use and configure, for the end user. Linux is not, and if it remains under the same stewardship as it always has, it will never be.
Depends if Nick is a Brit or a dammed Colonial really doesn't it....don't be so quick to jump on what is essentially a lighthearted article and take a chill pill dude.
Quote: "historic scene of a terrorist riot against its lawful government."
So our forefathers at the Boston tea party were terrorists huh Nick. Not far from what the Marxists in DC are calling us conservatives who don't agree with their socialist ideas right now.