Linus Not The Father Of Linux, According to Report 867
MrIrwin writes "According to this article on Yahoo, Linus is not the real father of Linux and Open source software is really just code nicked from other sources. " Groklaw has done a dissection of the press release. It's a press release by the Alexis de Toqueville Institution, who gets funding from MSFT, as well as believes that US IT troubles are because of free software. Oh, and terrorism works better because of open source, and the "Star Wars" program was a good idea.
Seeing as they like history...... (Score:5, Insightful)
Shenanigans (Score:5, Insightful)
TFA also mentions that Kenneth Brown (braindead author of the book about the study) interviewed RMS, but I fail to see any references to GNU/Linux in the write-up. I call shenanigans. Is it April 1st?
And finally, cheers to Hemos. There five times as many links in the editorial insert than there are in the actual submission. Someone buy this man a beer.
My initial reaction? (Score:5, Insightful)
"New Study" (Score:5, Insightful)
There are so many studies on the same topics that the public never hears about, what good is the information in the few that the media choose to cover?
AdTI: -1 Troll (Score:5, Insightful)
Strawman.. (Score:5, Insightful)
(i.e. claiming the other is saying something they're not, and then showing that it is false)
Their straw-man seems to be the idea (which noone, of course, has claimed) that Linux somehow was created in a vacuum.
From there they proceed to show how Linux was (*shock*) a clone of Unix!
(Probably leaving out the fact that there are literally dozens of them.)
Publicity Stunt (Score:5, Insightful)
Linus Not The Father Of Linux (Score:2, Insightful)
of course. by the way
War Is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:5, Insightful)
Twisting (Score:2, Insightful)
De Tocqueville (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyway, it's way too early in the morning for me to pull out a page reference, but one of the major themes in his _Democracy in America_ is that American society functions well due to the large number of volunteer organizations that Americans joined in, fire departments, sewing circles, sports clubs, free publications and that sort of thing. These things raise community awareness, and allow the democratic process to work, since he believed that it would fall apart if all democracy was was everyone voting their own pocketbook.
Anyway, I'd say the Free Software movement in America is certainly a continuation of that civic spirit.
Rated a 1.3 out of 5 (Score:2, Insightful)
Mods? (Score:5, Insightful)
Jesus Christ, posted on the front page of
Next story::
Tinfoil hats, snazzy wardrobe accessory or anti-M$oft mind-control device?
Or::
Bill Gates wants to control your fridge with NT4.0.
[/rant]
hmm (Score:1, Insightful)
Now we know why SCO's going away (Score:5, Insightful)
Get used to it, folks, it's not going to get any better anytime soon. That's good news, too, since the credibility of this sort of stuff has been mostly destroyed by Darl's loud mouth.
Obvious problem (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's one immediate problem with the way this guy thinks - the two groups of programmers he mentions are not mutually exclusive as he implies. One can speak out about the problems with IP rights and still be respectful and careful about not violating them.
Re:What a farce. (Score:5, Insightful)
Software is developed, not invented. This is also one of the main reasons that the patent world is all screwed up.
Oh well...
Read deeper... if the links work... (Score:3, Insightful)
I really like the last puff piece they promoted: are MCSEs good? 87-percent of HR mananger are aware of the program. 55-percent feel that an MCSE is more successful than a college grad. I guess it depends on how you define successful. Either way, it doesn't seem to point to the real truth about MCSEs, which is that the only valuable measure of their potential in your workplace is their experience.
Also, I'd like to find out more about the board members and their affiliations. That would be most helpful. The funny thing is to read the mission statement about "omnicurious journalism" and keeping alive certain liberal ideas. Yeah, lots of "liberal" ideas about business involve taking it in the
The Starwars Program. (Score:1, Insightful)
"Scrupulous" Imitation (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess he's saying this to contrast the way Microsoft unscrupulously imitated CPM/DOS, Lotus 1,2,3, Macintosh, WordPerfect, Stac . . .
Re:FUD not a serious threat to Linux at this stage (Score:4, Insightful)
Ok, I'll bite (Score:5, Insightful)
_Star Wars_ was a good idea. The same way successive U boat campaigns against the British were a good idea, the same way Sherman's march to the sea was a good idea. IOW, hit them in the wallet or flatten their production capability. Because of the great debate on Star Wars and the intransigence of the Reagan administration on the issue, the Sovs had to take it as something plausible, and thus we were able to force them to divert funds and resources to a possible chimera.
It doesn't matter whether you think Star Wars can work now or not, it's been almost 20 years since it was first proposed, so the reality now has no bearing on then. For what it was used to accomplish, Star Wars was a great idea.
Re:Linus Torvalds should sue the author (Score:3, Insightful)
You are assuming that there is a direct profit. This is a wrong assumption. The book and the report are least likely to break even. The profit will come from several well known companies (not just MSFT) which finance this institution and will not appear on the books as a product of this "research"
Uh huh.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:FUD not a serious threat to Linux at this stage (Score:3, Insightful)
Hehe, its really funny seeing a post like this parents getting modded +5 interesting, and not +5 funny..
The first paragraph is obviously read by the moderators, whilst the second (which is twice the size) are just beeing skimmed, and not read with a critically mind. (Noticed this username and post-record?) Nice work :)
But yeah, the parent is right about that FUD isn't a serious threat to Linux, and it probably never has been.. An OS survives by being good, not by how its being received by other competitors in the market
These guys are really starting to piss me off (Score:2, Insightful)
I have to say, the whole of this so-called "Institute" is starting to look pretty damned suspicious. Certainly, the world is not wanting for fools, and they do tend to organize into groups, but adti, with its history of poorly-produced, error-ridden, false & inflammatory "studies", really has all the markings of a couple of guys in their basement, making shit up, and then playing on the news media's tendency to spew out whatever is fed to them.
For example, their staff page [adti.net] lists a dozen or so people, including a "webmaster". Try clicking around the site, and notice that:
So the best conclusion you could draw about their "webmaster" (assuming he exists) is that he is about as smart and competent as Ken Brown, the "President" of adti. I'm appalled that Yahoo! parroted this press release as legitimate news -- I think they are being suckered.
P.S. Groklaw rocks. Happy Birthday Groklaw [slashdot.org]
That is not terribly accurate (Score:5, Insightful)
There is nothing to "admit." Linus wrote Linux as a i386 replacement for MINIX (which only ran on 80286 machines) because he wanted a UNIX he could use and play with on his hardware. He wrote the entire thing from scratch
Anyone looking at the old Tannenbaum book (which has the source code to MINIX in it) and the early Linux kernel code can easily tell they were written independently of each other. Anyone, that is, without an anti-free software agenda and ax to grind...
Calling Linux a MINIX clone is about as accurate as calling Linux an AT&T Sys V or generic UNIX clone
Re:Linus Torvalds should sue the author (Score:5, Insightful)
That is quite likely true. Nevertheless, financially bankrupting the author for his libellous actions would discourage others from throwing themselves on the grenade for MSFT and friends...which is exactly how the law is intended to function in these cases.
I would frankly nail the libellous sons-of-bitches to the wall, profit or no.
Windows Vs. Linux in TCO (Score:5, Insightful)
Or how about the Windows vs. Linux report that does not put a cost on the security breaches and malware attacks on Windows systems?
Re:Mods? (Score:5, Insightful)
You should always be informed about the moves of your opposites.
Re:De Tocqueville (Score:5, Insightful)
This concept scares away potential conservative allies - I know that people like the FSF probably don't care since they have a "with-us-or-against-us" sort of attitude that denies the middle ground. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure the ideological connections being drawn here fit - this condemnation of Linux and Linus as a person is despicable and I hope to God these people take a massive public beating over making these kinds of rhetoric-filled accusations.
Pedantry and Deliberate Misinterpretation (Score:5, Insightful)
Linus is being attacked because of common perception built upon a basis of ignorance. This is a common tactic used to discredit and undermine support for anyone who stands at the forefront of a collection of ideas which challenges the established financially successful, and often monopolistic, "powers-that-be".
If this even bothers Linux, if he even takes more than a few moments out of his day to be concerned with it, then I can empathize with him. For his sake I hope he takes the higher road: ignore it and concentrate on what he does best.
Re:What a farce. (Score:5, Insightful)
To karma whore for a little and quote the article
While you cannot group all open source programmers and programs together; many are rigorous and respectful of the intellectual property rights, while others speak of intellectual property rights with open contempt."
But just because you think software patents are evil doesn't mean that you're breaking the rules with your stuff. It just means that you have an idology, and possibly a big mouth. Open source code depends on people obeying the rules on IP. Saying that linux is an unlicensed or "stolen" dirivitive work based on Unix is an awfully big claim to make without showing a line of code. I think this guy is either an idiot, or trying to capitalize on the mess with SCO. Obviously there are people that read this stuff.
Don't get mad (Score:2, Insightful)
Now that I have made that statement. I wish to make another.
By getting angry with these people, you only draw more attention to their claims. When people make hasty generalizations out of anger their arguments are shot down fast. So by arguing with them, you are giving them more power.
I say to all of you who read this, "Ignore them, they will go away". They haven't claimed any truths and they don't have any evidence to support any of it.
Re:Linus Torvalds should sue the author (Score:5, Insightful)
If you RTFA, you'll see there's a whole lot of conditionals in there. AdTI might be a bunch of idiot sheep, but I bet they have a halfway competent legal department that would make them stop short of anything that could get them sued. And we don't know the sources. I mean, I could go find a bunch of conspiracy mags and websites and use them as a source to write a press release that says "Surgeon General might be controlling minds with flu shots". Heck, I have my "sources". And I didn't make any accusations, just threw the idea out there. I'm pretty sure the surgeon general can't sue me for that. (The government can throw me in Guantanamo Bay, but that's different).
What Linus _should_ do is write a well-thought-out rebuttal and get it into the major news outlets to let everyone know how ridiculous these claims are. This is one of the few times when something ridiculous does merit a response. If it was from some wacko on Usenet, sure, ignore it, no one will care. But rebutting their claim and providing solid proof will help publically discredit this istitute, which is exactly what is needed.
Re:De Tocqueville (Score:2, Insightful)
I'd say that such a spirit is gone in America, and lost on Americans. [Yes, I'm "American," or, at least, I was born and live here.]
Now it's all: "the world owes me," and "driving my
Errr.....
Cant Stop the Movement (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Murky FUD (Score:2, Insightful)
When those corporations begin to loose money to smaller groups who out perform, then those corporations pay for studies that skew the truth and spread FUD.
I think you answered your own question.
It's amazing how many misunderstand the GPL... (Score:3, Insightful)
Right, just like it could be immensely valueable "intellectual property" if you were to be able to get away with selling thousands of pirated copies of Microsoft Software.
People who want to be able to what they want with GPL source code with no strings attached seem to be forgetting that other people wrote that code, and that they categorically do _NOT_ have permission to release any of it without the permission of the copyright holder(s). As for why derivative works should also be subject to the GPL, it's because said works would certainly still contain a lot of code that was written by those original copyright holders, and even though you have the right to do with your own code as you please, that doesn't include the right to do what you want with other people's code, even if that code is required in order for your own code to be useful
People like these need to get a clue.... it's called "Copyright", and it's a good thing.
Re:FUD not a serious threat to Linux at this stage (Score:2, Insightful)
The brutal irony, of course, is that most of the people reading this realize that windows is not a particularly good operating system. Nor has windows survived on its virtues as an operating system.
It is easy to see that windows has 'succeeded' for reasons other than being a good operating system. It is difficult to realize that linux could 'fail' for reasons not related to its value as an OS. There are forces at work beyond a single user's choice of 'good' and 'bad'. I think this is an important point to consider.
At the same time, this is the classic struggle of the virtuous vs. the mighty. My vote lies always with the virtuous.
IT Industry Believes its Own Hype (Score:3, Insightful)
I have been on several projects where millions of dollars have been spent to force exceptionally complex solutions into very simple jobs, often because someone thought the project would look cool on their resume. And most of the time those projects run years late and way over budget and the company won't kill the project because "The IT Guys said this is the way we have to do it."
This guy is obviously just another IT guy who thinks he's better than everyone else when in reality he just sucks.
Re:What a farce. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds more like MS/DOS (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that is entirely the point. Linux was also written from scratch[1] but based upon UNIX design and philosophy[2]. It (Linux) looks similar to UNIX but it's an entirely different OS.
The analogy is entirely apt. Microsoft got its big break by selling a CP/M knockoff. Linux is a UNIX knockoff. So what? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Perhaps somebody should release a whitepaper: "Bill Gates is not the father of MS-DOS". Could equally well follow that up with "Bill Gates is not the father of MS-Windows".
[1] Pedant Points: Linus says that the early (never distributed) versions of Linux contained Minix code but all that code was removed before the first ever public release.
[2] More Pedant Points: Some people might say Linux was based on Minix design, but Linus early on said he wanted to follow POSIX specs. So Linux is more correctly a POSIX wannabe.
Re:What a farce. (Score:1, Insightful)
Sorry, that doesn't work in today's bold new black and white America.
Pseudo-Voltaire: "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Thought Police: "You support the speech of terrorists, therefore you support terrorists, therefore you are a terrorist. I will now read you your rights. Okay, that's done, now it's off to jail indefinitely."
No rebuttal necessary (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think Linus should bother. As it is, everyone who matters can see how ridiculous that is. If Linus places a rebuttal in major news outlets, it'll give credibility to these people (or at least more public controversy, as they will post a response themselves, then Linus will have to reply, and this will continue to go on fueling publicity for Brown's book). They WANT people to take them seriously and reply. They're powerless if we don't.
Really...I'd just rather see Linus's usual witty replies in a board somewhere, definitely not in a major news outlet. It won't give them fuel to their campaign and I'll be able to laugh, perhaps as much as I laughed after reading their press release.
Do you actually write software? (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's another angle. Chip design these days is usually done completely in a description language like VHDL or Verilog. The engineer does not lay out the transistors by hand. Hence, the engineer's creation is literally software cum hardware. You would have us believe that just because the electrical engineer has produced something he can touch that he is an "inventor" while the software engineer is merely a "developer".
Or perhaps you mean that the pot that cooks AND drains pasta is an invention, and Bayesian spam filtering is just a bunch of 1s and 0s.
Possibly a publicity troll? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Since when did NT stand for "Network Technology" instead of "New Technology"?
2. It calls Windows 3.1 "the second OS with a GUI" (after the Mac), as if 3.1 was the first version of windows ever.
3. I quote:
Windows 3.1 was still based on MS-DOS because it was really just a front end. All it did was pass commands to MS-DOS which then passed commands to the kernel.
Excuse me? What is this "MS-DOS" thing that passes things to "the kernel"? The only thing I can think of is that he might mean the MS-DOS prompt. This sounds as if Windows 3.1 did everything by simulating typing on the DOS prompt (i.e., "pass commands to MS-DOS") and letting the DOS prompt pass things on to "the kernel". My take on this: the kernel is actually what "MS-DOS" really is -- the command prompt is just the equivalent of a shell. I have no clue what separation between "MS-DOS" and "the kernel" this guy had in mind.
4. Since when did Windows 98SE stand for "Special Edition" instead of "Second Edition"?
5. Since when was Windows ME a bugfix release for the Y2K problem? I quote: The Y2K (Year 2000) problem was discovered and fixed with the release of Windows ME (Millennium Edition). This is actually funny, so it might be intended as a joke, but I don't think it is.
6. If Windows NT was really based on the source of VMS, M$ would have definitely been sued. And they haven't AFAIK. Instead, M$ had just been done with the OS/2 cooperation debacle, and it's pretty probable that they took quite a bit of code from that to get them started on NT.
There's more I could say, but I think this enough.
Re:Ok, I'll bite (Score:1, Insightful)
In that case, perhaps we should standdown our armed forces and increase funding to local and state police forces. All they have to do is stop and search all trucks and cars driven by swarthy-looking men and we'll be perfectly safe.
Unix as integral part... (Score:4, Insightful)
If this is the best controversy this idiot can come up with to promote his book, he's in deep shit and needs to get a real job.
Hype to sell a book (Score:3, Insightful)
He's doing this to hype it.
I mean if he actually did print this stuff in detail there are already a number of security experts who'd trash his butt.
In the end however this book belongs with such greats as Madonas sex book, OJs "I didn't do it" book and the Green Card spam lawyers book on e-commerce.
If his book did actually contain thies suggestions then I think some of the chapers in the book are
Security by obscurity: Sticking your head in the ground.
Back doors: Pretend they don't exist.
Ignore the man behind the curtan: If he's selling something he's honnest if he has nothing to gain by lying then he's lying.
And of course
Buy everything: If it's free it sucks if it's for sale it's good. Now my kid sister sells a program just like the free one you can get from the top rated security experts.
Only hers is better becouse she's selling it.
For a "hippy like" community we are pritty paranoid.
You would be too if you were told you aren't allowed to know what is happening on YOUR OWN COMPUTER.
The very software your trusting to do your taxes and run your home yet your not trusted with the terrable secret of how it works?
I'm going to trust you over someone who gives away the code for free and let's me see how it works.
You know what? You want you trust the "Space robots" and stand at the top of the stairs while I'll do the Hampster Dance.
"+5 Insightful" to whom? Gullible lib-lefties? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to belabour an obvious point, but... Not everyone who is stupid is a conservative, and not every conservative is stupid. You aren't helping your cause (whatever that is), by picking up some limp hack, and shaking him about as an example of the "Evil Neocon".
In an attempt to paint all conservatives with the AdTI brush, you have made the same error that AdTI makes -- taking a shallow understanding of a concept, and make inflamatory generalisations about a group.
As both a conservative and a supporter of software Libre, I find your persistent rantings both tiring, and comical. Surely all "liberals" can't be as shallow as you are? If you are going to continue searching for examples of "Neocon" evil, at least try to come up with some examples worthy of disdain, instead of derision.
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:2, Insightful)
Seeing how these guys wrote VMS, you can safely assume that many of the same ideas that VMS had, NT had too.
Re:Ok, I'll bite (Score:3, Insightful)
It's entirely possible, to my mind likely, that Reagan intended to build what he said he intended to build and won the Cold War by unintended effect. He still deserves credit, but to do down in history as a master strategist?
Its not invention (Score:5, Insightful)
Music is "composed".
Software is "developed".
There's nothing "inventable" about software.
Unless you think Hayden should have took out a patent on the "Symphony"
"Collection of music that is played by many musicians such that music is broken into theme, counterpart, resolution in 1 to multiple parts. Music is group together to form a sound picture which is then used to inspire both performer and audience. It includes the following elements:
1) White pages with black dots on them to represent exact musical score
2) Wood or metal instrument which is plucked or blown to create sound
3) Sound in claim #2 is used in accordance with claim #1 to produce sound that has coherence
4) Each musician has a slightly different copy of the music
5) The claims in #4 when performed in exact time increments produces sound variations that are impossible with a single instrument.
6) Additional performer (known as conductor) will stand and wave arms
7) Said conductor in claim 6 will wave arms in unique motion depending on type of time in part 5 above such that there is a distinct way of waving arms according to number of beat in measure
8) As music is broken into movements, time may be taken to give audience a rest. Audience may leave to get drinks in the lobby at this time.
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:4, Insightful)
See how quickly the law gets changed. Laws like that are only laws as long as they don't hurt anyone rich.
MS did not invent MSDOS, Windows, Office, and NT (Score:3, Insightful)
Windows was a reaction to the first MacIntosh. Bill wanted top copy and embrace the PC graphic interface market. Apple is not blameless in hijacking Xerox Parc technology and employees in this regard.
Other groupls wrote the first graphical word processor (Xerox), spreadsheet (Visicalc), slideshow program (Harvard), and so on. MicroSoft perfected them and integrated them fairly well.
NT was developed by Digital Equipment Corp emigrees to MicroSoft. Lets just say that if Daryl McBride worked for DEC, he'd have stronger case of matching code
Re:Linus Torvalds should sue the author (Score:3, Insightful)
Nope. When the he is inevitably asked about this during the course of an interview, he should just call these guys a bunch of crack smokers.
Worked last time.
Offensive (Score:3, Insightful)
The truth is.... (Score:4, Insightful)
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
I believe it's only a matter of time. It doesn't mean we're complacent, we still have to continue our efforts at debunking the FUD.
Re:That is not terribly accurate (Score:3, Insightful)
FUD FUD and more FUD.
Or, more siccinctly: nonsense.
The only "resemblence" Linux bears to old AT&T unix code is that which also, coincidentally, bears a resemblence to FreeBSD code: i.e. that which is either in the public domain, released under the FreeBSD license, and/or published in common textbooks. The only other resemblences are those which impliment published standards (such as header file constant declarations).
And that "resemblence" didn't enter the code base until months (and in most cases, years) after Linux's initial release.
No coincidences, no suspicious anomolies, to anyone who does even a modicum of research and, yet again, one who doesn't have a specfic, anti-free software agenda, spin and FUD they are trying to disseminate.
In a fair world, perhaps... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is a private organization, as far as I can see, that relies on donations (e.g. the ones from Microsoft...). Granted, they don't seem to be a 501 (c)(3), but I suspect they would still call or consider themselves some kind of charity for media purposes.
Now then, if you see my other post [slashdot.org], you'll see that I think that they want us to react strongly so that they can portray us in a negative light, and "Linus sues charity" is probably just the sort of headline they would like. Who, you might ask, would be crazy enough to give a headline like that? I can name at least two such people, Enderle and Lyons, both of whom should be familiar to anyone who has followed SCO vs. IBM
That's not to say, however, that he wouldn't be right to. Of course, we pretty well have to wait until they say more than they did in that blurb. It may be recklessly false, but they haven't published very much of a statement to base a lawsuit on just yet, IMHO. Apparently, they plan to publish a book soon, however, and that might have more substance (e.g. more lies), were Linus considering suing over it... My suspicions, as above, are that they're using this to get free publicity to hype their book, since curious folks would have to buy the book to read it, generating royalties for them...
Re:Microsoft's history of dishonesty and crime (Score:3, Insightful)
Can anyone back that up?
dont blame the tools (Score:2, Insightful)
with a hammer i can build a shelter
or i can crush your skull
i could build a terrorist hide out
or defend myself against intruders
whatever the case...
the hammer is not at fault, and blaming it is not logical
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:5, Insightful)
Right-wing nutcases (Score:5, Insightful)
But we really don't need a Microsoft link to demonstrate the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution's grotesque ideological bias. While the think-tank positions itself as an independent, libertarian research group designed to "study, promote, and extend the principles of classical liberalism: political equality, civil liberty, and economic freedom," they function, more often than not, as a shill for Big Business and the far political right.
AdTI is a fellow-traveler of neoconservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and shadowy groups like the "Defenders of Property Rights," with whom they are aligned as part of an anti-Clean Air Act hit squad ironically misnamed the Cooler Heads Coalition [disinfopedia.org]. These are the folks who have been grinding out the industrialist propaganda which has allowed the Bush Administration to roll back environmental laws a couple of decades.
The Alexis de Tocqueville Institute can always be counted upon for a convenient white paper discounting the risks of tobacco smoking [ucsf.edu] or in favor of vastly expensive weapons programs [fas.org] of dubious utility.
It's tough to source the funding of private institutes, but the folks at Media Transparency have taken a stab at AdTI [mediatransparency.org]. Big sugar daddies include the Bradley Foundation [mediatransparency.org], which gives away millions each year to attack social programs and support the privatization of government services. There's also the John M. Olin Foundation [mediatransparency.org], which has lavishly funded a host of robber baron nonprofits over the years.
So it's no surprise that the Alexis de Tocqueville Institiute -- which seems to exist to provide a moral compass for the richest and most powerful interests in the West -- should be seen to carry water for anti-Open Source reactionaries. What's bad for big business must be bad for the nation. Linux must be discredited before it causes more distress for the market planners at Microsoft.
The only freedom being defended by groups like AdTI is the feedom to buy what the Establishment is selling. And at a price they decide.
Re:Microsoft's history of dishonesty and crime (Score:5, Insightful)
MICROSOFT DEFEATS STACKER (Disk Compression) BY:
- Fraud: Microsoft incorporates the Stacker code, even the comments. MS lawyers drag out their defense of the suit against them until Stacker is bankrupt, then settle when the company has been forced out of business.
All of their competitors don't have... (Score:3, Insightful)
multics (Score:1, Insightful)
Linus's graciousness (Score:3, Insightful)
I mentioned the disagreement he had with Tanenbaum, on kernel design. I quoted Tanenbaum's comment, that if Linus was one of his students, he would flunk him. And I asked him if Tanenbaum had ever apologized, or recanted.
It was a perfect opportunity for Linus to play at a rivalry, dump on Tanenbaum, and so on.
But he didn't do that. He gave a very gracious answer about where he expressed sympathy for Tanenbaum, who had put in years of work on Minix, feeling annoyed at people trying to use the minix newsgroups to discuss something else.
So I wonder exactly what Tanenbaum said to the clowns writing this report? I've read some of Tanenbaum's books. He is a funny, entertaining writer. I'd really like to believe that he too was gracious, and that the Microsoft shills unfairly used juxtaposition to imply he had criticized Linus. I know he knows Linus didn't rip off any of his code.
Extraordinary (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm reminded of the famous quote from Carl Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
Give me the facts before you expect me to give credence to your allegations.
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's history of dishonesty and crime (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, you didn't use the term "M$" and refrained from calling their employees "cockmasters" which, I must say, is somewhat of a rarity on Slashdot when discussing Microsoft. So bravo, AC. Excellent job. A lot of my Microsoft-loving acquaintances will find the URL to this post in their inbox very soon.
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Star Wars did what it was supposed to do. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:5, Insightful)
That isn't true. Not everyone _needs_ a perfect house in the suburbs with a thoroughbred mutt, a TV in every room, a cellphone for everyone, digital cable, broadband internet, an SUV with premium gas, brand-name cereal, designer clothes, 5000 watt 7-channel audio, etc. etc. etc.
It is very possible to have a very good quality of life on one income, even a $40K/year income. In fact this just happens to be the median income in the USA. Saving for retirement would be hard, I know (but we have Social Security for that right? at least, that's where 7% of my income goes...), but just getting by pretty well month to month is perfectly doable.
Kids who cry about not getting every PS2 game hot off the presses need to be put in their places, anyway. Spouses who cry about not getting every piece of every place setting for "their pattern" need to have a sock stuffed in their trap. Neighbors who think they are superior because of their Honda lawnmower are just assholes. This really isn't rocket science, folks.
open contempt... (Score:4, Insightful)
"many are rigorous and respectful of the intellectual property rights, while others speak of intellectual property rights with open contempt."
Since when is speaking with contempt of something wrong? Does that make you a "software pirate"? Let's see how these guys define "intellectual property" in a previous publication about intellectual property theft linked by Slashdot:
"Today, intellectual property is not just patents, copyrights and trademarks, it is processes, techniques, methodology and talent; described by many experts as intellectual capital."
This apparently means that:
1. My talents are the property of my employer because the value of my talents is part of the capital valuation of the company on the market. If I leave that constitutes intellectual property theft.
2. If intangible capital valuation on the market decreases because someone else is doing the same things better or cheaper than you that constitutes intellectual property theft (instead of competition).
I do not know what they are trying to promote, but it surely is not freedom or competition. This conception of intellectual property is based on a fundamental misconception of the value of knowledge. It is also a great threat to freedom and world peace.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:3, Insightful)
but you are assuming that paternity must actually be established, through genetic testing or having the man's name listed as the father on the birth certificate. Reason Magazine had an article on this recently: "Injustice by Default: How the effort to catch "deadbeat dads" ruins innocent men's lives" [reason.com]
Re:Seeing as they like history...... (Score:2, Insightful)
A good example is copiers. IBM studied making photocopiers and decided that the market was too small, because even if EVERY person that used carbon paper switched to an IBM photocopier, they still wouldn't sell enough to make any dough. This, of course, left the door open for a little company called Xerox. The moral of the story is that if a product becomes cheaper, it can sometimes create demand where none existed before.
How does this relate to IT? Well, perhaps by making IT departments cheaper to have, more businesses will choose to have one. Co-location may suddenly not be so cost-effective.
I'm not saying that Microsoft isn't full of it, just that they are not necessarily being hypocritical in this case.
DNA testing (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft's history of dishonesty and crime (Score:3, Insightful)
Please post whatever you want, but when you pass off insanely unobjective rants as some sort of factual representation of the truth, you come off a jerk.
To me, and anyone else objectively looking at what you've said, it looks like you have some serious issues with microsoft. OS Envy, if you will.
Saying Microsoft somehow made nVidia not release source code for linux is just insane. nVidia are doing that because they spent money on the drivers, not because bill has bought them off. If you just think about your claims for more than two seconds, most of them debunk themselves. You have a pop at the whole OS/2 fiasco, but seeing as Microsoft were a major development partner with IBM, they have every right to use whatever code they develop on the project in their own software.
Sabotage of java? Are you insane? Microsoft have had licensing issues with java, but you can blame sun for that just as much as microsoft. Portraying them to be an evil corporation for rathern inane business decisions shows how much you really want to believe in microsoft being bad.
"Microsoft funded the SCO attack" - don't make me laugh! Microsoft have given SCO money in the past, for services. Saying they single-handedly used SCO as a puppet to attack Linux, which you are, shows your true motive.
So, Windows '95 causes some function keys to break? Well, Linux causes my modems to stop working, so LINUX MUST BE TRYING TO DESTROY INTEL!
Sensationalist, emotive rubbish. Anyone can make anything sound bad by cherrypicking information and emotive language. All you've shown is the depths people like you would go to, to cause a fuss.
Next time, cite sources. Use facts, not what you heard someone talking about on IRC or slashdot. Form an argument, as opposed to listing gripes you've formed in your head over the years. Usually I keep quiet when I see people posting this stuff, but you seemed to be really believing what you've written.