HTML mail, was: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Linux Distro

[Steve Baker]

Vaidya, Harshal (Cognizant) wrote:

>    Why is everybody so anti Microsoft or anti proprietary software.

I'm not anti-proprietary software (although some people here may be).  I get
paid for writing proprietary stuff - and I know no other way to make as good
a living as a programmer.

However, I AM agressively anti-Microsoft.

Here is an extremely well researched piece about what you can expect from
this organisation over the next few years.  If you believe they are generally
nice people, you are in for some shocks:

     http://www.aaxnet.com/editor/edit029.html#mspath


> They have worked hard to where they are today...

They have been lucky - in the right place at the right time - and they have
bought, stolen or bullied someone into giving up virtually every piece of
worthwhile technology they own.

If you believe you know of a piece of Microsoft innovation, go here
and they'll generally prove that it's not:

http://www.vcnet.com/bms/departments/innovation.shtml

(I wouldn't describe that site as 'fair and unbiased' though!)

So far, the only two true innovations that have been proven are 'Bob' (which
M$ abandoned because people hated it) and the Dancing paperclip...ditto.

In the beginning (up to Windows-2.0 days perhaps) I'd have given M$ some
credit for hard work - but these days, they are just abusing their monopoly
and their money in ways that I find repugnant.

> We are linux guys and we know that we are better than them and gradually
 > with all our might we are cruising our way in the market and driving away
 > all these proprietary software shmuks.

I'm not so sure that's true.

   * Can you legally play DVD's on your Linux PC?  Do you believe you'll still
     be able to do it at all in 5 years from now?   I don't.   It's no accident
     that all the new DVD players support Windows Media Player formats.

   * Suppose M$ uses it's X-box muscle to crack down hard on nVidia to stop
     them producing OpenGL drivers?   Then employ the patents they purchased
     from SGI a couple of years ago to pressure ATI to stop supporting us with
     3D graphics drivers?   They could easily do that (and there are strong signs
     that they will since they pulled their presence out of the OpenGL ARB last
     month).   Now you'll find that there are no 3D graphics on Linux anymore...
     not at usable performance.  So, no more games on Linux that are more advanced
     than 10 year old technology.

   * When they go to the next version of Office with Digital Rights Management,
     you'll no longer be able to read the majority of WORD documents that are
     written - and because of the DMCA, it'll be illegal to even try to do so.

   * When they pressure both AMD and Intel to introduce Palladium into their
     CPU's and Linux won't even boot on any new processors anymore.  Note the
     lack of success of the Linux-on-Xbox project to produce a working bootable
     disk without special (and possibly illegal) DRM circumvention hardware.
     When that DRM hardware is integrated into the CPU in palladium, that too
     will be impossible.  How are you gonna run Linux when you can't buy a PC
     to run it on?   Your present PC won't last forever.

   * When they pressure the PC manufacturers to incorporate their new BIOS-less
     boot technology (about a year off probably) and again, Linux will be unable
     to boot because the startup mechanism will be built into the CPU with
     encryption "to make it more secure"...it will be illegal to circumvent that.

...I could go on.

> So why bother .. just do your work. If its good it'll come through all the tests.

That's horribly naive.  If we don't fight every step of the way, Linux will cease to
work on any modern technology.   That could easily happen within one to two years.

We need to fight - and fight hard - just to stay in the game.

> Sorry everybody .. I couldn't just resist writing this and I know this is gonna
 > raise another flame war.

Yes - and with good reason.  It's very naive!

Read those two links I posted and then come back and make a statement like that.

---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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HomePage : http://www.sjbaker.org
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