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Linux Software

Linux Art and Lotsa Linux Hype 35

Posted by Roblimo from the bring-me-your-tired-your-poor-and-your-Microsoft-CDs dept.
GW Hayduke writes "I stumbled across this on CNet, It's a definitely like dumping some petrol on an allready raging fire on this site, but I found it interesting..." Linuxfund.org is getting lots of press. It'll be interesting to see whether all their sound and fury signifies anything besides a clever credit card marketing scheme, but at least this Microsoft art thing they're running has some humor value, and laughter is always worthwhile. ;-)
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Linux Art and Lotsa Linux Hype More

Linux Art and Lotsa Linux Hype

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  • couldn't get the card!! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm a student at OSU, and I do have a good credit history. Sure, I don't have a large income, but I do have other credit cards which I pay off regularly. The Linux Fund turned my application down, kind of lame to offer a credit card to software developers, err, only software developers with fat pockets. That excludes a lot of us.
  • I've had the same thought. Do you think long-time free-lance writers who are also self-employed limo drivers are considered prime credit risks? Not exactly!

    - Robin "roblimo" Miller
    "Low-rent trailer trash and proud of it!"

  • RH pays Alan (and Stephen Tweedie, and Ingo Molnar, and other Big Names from linux-kernel), so I would consider that (plus their GNOME work) to be "giving money back to developers".
  • Are you serious? The German people still deal in humans? Have you guys been stealing all of America's Marks and using them as currency? I used to have a friend named Mark, then he disappeared! Bad bad naughty Germans. When will they ever learn to leave others alone.

    </idoicism>

    I wish I knew of such a shop. Its a pain trying to convince some people that MSWindows is not an essential part of a computer.

    Grr.
  • The clue meter is reading zero.

    <paraphrase>OSS developers don't have bad credit, they just have bad credit _ratings_!</paraphrase>

    Sorry, couldn't help it.
  • I did.

    And I say that your position is now more clear than it was before. Thank you.

    And I was not trolling, I was expressing my confusion in a disgruntled manner.
  • Unlike MSWindows, you know when you buy MacOS. It comes when you buy a Mac. That is one of the catches of buying a Mac. When you put together or buy a PC, some people try to force Windows on you, but you don't necessarily -->have-- to take it. (I'm not sure about Compaq and the biggies, but you can argue with the Fry's peons to get rid of stuff you dont want in leiu of better stuff). But when you buy a Mac, its generally accepted that it comes with MacOS, being as that is what the Apple machines are all developed for.

    If MS (hope to hell they arent) started selling machines, it would be a given that you would get some version MSWindows on the machine. Its like that with Apple. Now if someone started cloning Macs, then you wouldn't necessarily expect MacOS, but they would probably still have it anyway.

    But the bottom line is that you knew you were going to buy MacOS when you bought the machine.

    --
    Peace is for those who don't own an elephant gun.
  • Another point is that we really have no interest in such mundane business details such as trademarks. The sole reason that Linus owns the Linux trademark is because someone in Boston got the Linux trademark and was trying to force money out of people selling Linux distributions.

    Now that we have the trademark, the worst thing that happens is that it gets diluted, and a judge says that we failed to protect the trademark, so everyone can use it.

    This is OK, because if everyone can use it, nobody can threaten to take us to court over the name. And I don't think that Linux the operating system would be harmed in any way by Linux brand dog treats. In that example, even a dog could tell the two apart, so humans would be unlikely to be confused.



  • How much do you want to bet that the prize goes to whoever incorporates FIRE into their artwork?
    --
    Paranoid
  • I overheard this dialogue in a Franchise PC Shop here in Berlin: "Does it have Windows? No, but a Linux Boot Partition. But I want Windows. That will cost you 300 Marks more then." I giggled all
    the way home.
  • Sure we still have slaves, all called Mark btw. They have to sit in front of a computer all day and solve other peoples problems with no pay and only bread and water. The female slaves all called Pfennig get to work in wonderful areas like supermarkets, cleaning etc. besides having to care for their slave kids all called hope. But thank God for the Euro. By the year 2001 or so all the Marks will be replaced by peaceloving free Euros and all will be happy ever after.
  • We will have no IPO, I can never sell out. WE ARE A TRUE .ORG, we have filed for the tax status. LinuxFund.org will have no corporate jets, and will have audited books. We plan on giving back to the community, by opening up the granting process in November. This is a startup much like any other. We will make a difference, and have fun with MS to. If anyone has a problem with us, please do not hesitate to e-mail me, or to call me. See you all at Atlanta, Benjamin Benjamin
  • Am I the only one who doesn't see any meat at this site? I mean, they talk about stuff but is there anything there but trying to ride the Linux popularity wave and get credit card users?
  • About a month after the march on Redmond to get the license rebates for computers not running pre-installed 98, I purchased a PIII 500 through Dell and inquired about the rebate for the 98 license.

    The sales rep was very polite, but had no idea what I was talking about. I was told there was no way to get a computer without an operating system installed, and consequently, there was no way not to be charged for the OS.

    Now Dell will pre-install Linux! That is what I call progress.

  • ... (Score:1)

    by emmons ( 94632 )
    "and Red Hat who have yet to give the IPO money back to developers, we should be very careful about this sort of exploitation"

    Redhat cannot give it's IPO money back to developers, they are bound to use it to expand their business. As much as we may not like it, Red Hat is now a publicly traded corporation. Therefore, its first and foremost obligation is to serve its stockholders. It does this by expanding and earning a profit (someday). If it works to serve any other goal than what their stockholders want, they will be sued for violating stockholders rights. Once you go public, all the rules change.

    -----
  • oh, I thought they said linuxFUD.org

    Did you mean 'hacker' or 'cracker'?
    Do you know the diffrence? I don't think you do.

  • Uh, if you don't have a good credit rating, it means that you either don't buy much with your credit card (and hence don't make much money for the credit card company), or don't pay your bills on time (or both). In either case, you're not a good buy for the credit card company i.e. a credit risk.
  • Yes. Imagine what would happen if a credit card company using the Linux name turned out to be a scam. Linus should start requiring that these companies obtain explicit permission from him, and give permission only after thoroughly investigating the company's background -- perhaps some separate or existing organisation can be setup to do this (funded using fees paid by the applicants of course).

  • Linux Trademark (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Linus should really consider their use of the Linux trademark carefully and either have them sign some agreement or deny them use of it. IANAL but I believe this can be seen as a case of trademark dilution if not dealt with properly.
  • I was responding to the assertion that I was saying that OSS developers are bad credit risks. See the subject. I'm saying that although OSS developers aren't necessarily credit risks, they tend to have bad credit ratings. Also, the original AC who posted the reply to my statement made a comment about "so much for OSS in business." Which also has nothing to do with anything. Shit, sorry for responding to a troll.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
  • Well, it was this post, [slashdot.org] which is definitely by an AC and definitely not saying anything logically connected to my post, which I was referring to.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
  • Except that the Windows EULA says otherwise, as does past history regarding PCs. I know, it's wishy-washy and inconsistent, but there's nothing much better you can say, really.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
  • I hope that they realize that most opensource developers have... less-than-perfect credit histories. :) For a 12.99% fixed APR, no fees, LinuxFund contributions per purchase, and travel services, I'd be willing to hunt these guys down when I'm at ALS. :)

    How many people here have this problem, btw: I've never had a credit card or a loan, so I don't have any good marks on my credit history, but a couple times in the past, bills got sent in late for varying reasons (moving or being on vacation or whatever) and so I have a couple of bad marks, and so no self-respecting credit agency will even consider me unless I'm willing to pay a huge annual fee. My checks are also often rejected as being "bad" or "high risks" because of this. So hopefully the linuxfund credit card is a lot more lenient on credit history.

    Yeahyeah, sorta off-topic, but not really...
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

  • I didn't say that. I said that OSS developers tend to have bad credit ratings. It's for a number of reasons, and it varies by the individual. Some, like myself, are just too algorithmic and cautious to ever get haphazard credit extended, and so have nothing good on their credit history. Other OSS developers have no income, or are too driven by their passions to hold down a steady job. Changing jobs looks bad on one's credit record too. Neither point has anything to do with OSS in business. Perhaps I should have been more clear.
    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
  • Well, then there'd be no record of you making payments on interest. (That's what they're interested in. They couldn't care less if you pay in full; it's the ability to pay for interest that builds up your credit rating. I know it's stupid.) Myself, I'm responsible with my money, which is part of my problem - I've never needed a credit card, since I've always had the up-front cash for buying things. The problem is that it could be over $500 (my debit card has a $500 purchase limit) and then I'd have to pay with check, but it'd be over $200 so the store would have to authorize it. So, since I've always been responsible with my money, I've never had to get credit extended, and so now I can't get a good credit rating, even in situations where credit's inappropriate.

    Of course, this all boils down to the fact that in the 80s, when credit cards were suddenly fashionable, the various credit agencies extended way too much credit to people who didn't know how to handle it. So the banks all got burned (only after these people with too much credit all went bankrupt, of course), and now they're incredibly paranoid, and any infraction on one's credit history, no matter how minor ("payment was two days late"), is immediately a red flag.


    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

  • But what I'm wondering is where I can trade in my MacOS lisence for a LinuxPPC CD: I was forced to purchase my OS, too.

    Peace
    Myopic
  • Now that Linux is becoming more "mainstream" (or is it mainstream becoming more tolerant of hackers?), I think people should apply a bit more critical thought to people/companies jumping on the bandwagon. Are they pulling or getting a free-ride?

    While its a free world for any group to try and make money, one has to ask are they delivering a service better/faster/cheaper than existing ones. In the case of LinuxFund, it would be interesting to ask what scales of economies they offer, what value they provide beyond existing services (besides the feel-good of supporting anything reciting the Linux magic incantation) and whether if you removed the Linux rah-rah, would they be better or worse than any existing bank/financial house/credit union. If they do, then the market will decide how successful they will become.

    A famous management guru once said that the epitome of a business plan was that even if you showed it to everyone else, it would still work and they couldn't easily copy it. While trading code/ads for T-shirts and freebies may appeal to some, would you trust your money and any personal information to such an outfit? Not knocking these guys but I hope they've got better business sense than a lot of the IPOs that are springing up. Oh well, judging from previous posts like the Linux hotel, at least the company selling stuffed penguins seems a worthwhile investment :-).

    LL
  • MBNA is not a fly-by-night operation. I've been using them as my primary credit card for about 8 years. From what I can tell they handle all of the business aspects in a unified fashion. Getting a linux credit card is no different from getting a Star Trek credit card or University of Texas credit card except that it has a penguin logo on it.

    I believe MBNA pays for marketing and new sign-ups through a small cut (very small probably) of what they make (~1.5%) MBNA probably doesn't even know what linux is. It's definitely a gimmick, but for those of us without debt one credit card is the same as another.

    But to answer your question on if other people are getting a free ride off of linux... yes, but why should that matter? There is the saying : any press is good press.. and these people are publicizing linux by attempting to make money off of it. Linux is still not mainstream and needs a lot of work before you can stop a random person on the street and ask them what Linux is.


  • Yup, sounds very familiar to me too. Not that I'd want a credit card -- I'm not good with money and fear what I could do with one :).

    A nice service for Linuxfund to offer that would get me interested would be to offer a $0 limit credit card, no links to money, purely as a second identification card. As long as the credit industry is keeping all these records on me, can't I get *some* benefit from it at least?

  • Re:What about the Rest of Us? (Score:3)

    by Pascal Q. Porcupine ( 4467 ) on Saturday October 09, 1999 @06:08AM (#1627368) Homepage
    I think the main issue regarding Windows is the fact that the hardware is sold separate from the OS but people are required to buy the OS along with the hardware. With Macs, you don't have the luxury of those claims, since a Macintosh computer refers to both the hardware and the OS. Also, you can't buy MacOS standalone (just upgrades), correct? So determining the value of that is difficult at best. I've never seen the MacOS full (OEM) version EULA, but it probably doesn't include a clause for returning the OS to the place of purchase.

    Of course, that's somewhat hypocritical, since until recently, Windows PCs were sold as the PC and the OS, but with PCs there's a definite case to be made for the separation of hardware and software (since it was possible to get 'naked' systems in the past); it's never been possible to get a naked Mac, at least not in legitimate, authorized, direct channels.


    ---
    "'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

  • ... (Score:3)

    by Signal 11 ( 7608 ) on Saturday October 09, 1999 @03:44PM (#1627369)
    *mumble* It's obvious that the use of microsoft products as art is an attempt to appeal to the linux users in the post-postcommunistic era of computing. By appealing to the third-wave post-industrial paradigm shift amongst users of modern-day operating systems, they hope to accomplish a radical departure from current artistic forms of linux artwork.

    Did that make any sense to you? Me neither. So how come you're "donating" atleast $99 in return for a $6.95 CD?!

    --

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