"It seems unfortunate if we do this work and get our partners to do the work and the result is that Linux works great without having to do the work" said Bill Gates in 1999 (pdf). While we don't know if he actually managed to do just that (creating problems to other OSes to work well with ACPI), but if he did, it is a good explanation why ACPI has been flaky on the majority of x86 computers with anything else other than Windows (the older, APM standard, seemed more compatible with alternative OSes).
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Member since:2006-12-28
Dude, read up on your history! Cuba had to make a deal with the USSR because no one else was allowed to buy their main export, sugar. The main reason for this blockade in the first place was the USA. Also, the USSR wanted to offset the huge amount of missiles installed on European soil buy doing what the US had been doing for years, park some fat warheads in your enemy's backyard.
The USSR agreed to buy Cuban sugar in exchange for the installation of war heads. Because the US had set up a blockade, Cuba was not only forced to concede but was more than happy to. The fact remains that the US was playing the bully long before those missiles where installed but if you want to blame Cuba for what the rest of the world considers rabid antipathy on the part of the US, be my guest. Just don't be surprised when everybody else has a good laugh at your expense.
Member since:2005-07-06
Hah, we've still got some of the damn things lying around Belgium. They're still on our soil illegally and our government is *still* denying it after all these years although it's a public secret they're there. Each year there's a demonstration at the army base of people coming to inspect for WMD's ( http://www.bomspotting.be/ ). They never get in though.
The distance Brussels-Moscow is about the same as Havanna-Washington BTW (around 2000km).
Member since:
2005-07-07
Just to clarify something here when it comes to Cuba. If you remember back, it was Cuba that allowed the USSR to put nuclear weapons on the island that is just minutes from our border.
Is it fair to compare the Windows/ACPI/Linux situation to Cuba....I think not.