Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 23rd Jul 2009 22:53 UTC, submitted by Remy Chi Jian Suen
So, Microsoft submits 20000 lines of code to the Linux kernel, all licensed under the GPL. Microsoft, who considers Linux a great threat, and once called the GPL a "cancer". Opinions on this one are flying all around us, but what does Linus Torvalds, Linux' benevolent dictator, think about all this?
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RE[2]: Embrace Extend Extinguish
by lemur2 on Fri 24th Jul 2009 01:57
in reply to "RE: Embrace Extend Extinguish"
Member since:2007-02-17
Microsoft has a long history of very dirty business tactics True, but there is another one who has done worse thinks and nobody say anything, yes, im talking about IBM.
Historically, yes, correct. IBM had a huge anti-trust case against it for this.
IBM's reaction was to change their corporate behaviour. Turn it around completely.
But since IBM donates money to the FSF nobody dares to say anything.
Actually, IBM donates more than money ... they have donated code. Vast amounts of it. Probably more so than anyone else. See the above comment about "change their corporate behaviour. Turn it around completely". This is an excellent example of exactly that turn-around.
Microsoft also had a huge anti-trust case against it. Microsoft's response was to turn the DOJ around completely, and utterly corrupt them. Now we have the US government anti-trust investigators saying things like "Microsoft is not the problem" and going after Google.
Can you say "stooges"? Can you say "bought"?
RE[3]: Embrace Extend Extinguish
by Hiev on Fri 24th Jul 2009 02:02
in reply to "RE[2]: Embrace Extend Extinguish"
Member since:2005-09-27
RE[3]: Embrace Extend Extinguish
by Soulbender on Fri 24th Jul 2009 06:08
in reply to "RE[2]: Embrace Extend Extinguish"
Member since:2005-08-18
IBM's reaction was to change their corporate behaviour. Turn it around completely
Comedy gold. Google is also not evil.
Actually, IBM donates more than money ... they have donated code. Vast amounts of it. Probably more so than anyone else.
You don't seriously think they do that for some altruistic reasons, do you? It benefits them to do so and the moment it no longer does they'll stop.
RE[3]: Embrace Extend Extinguish
by spanglywires on Fri 24th Jul 2009 10:33
in reply to "RE[2]: Embrace Extend Extinguish"
Member since:2006-10-23
IBM's reaction was to change their corporate behaviour. Turn it around completely.
Hehe, you've obviously never dealt with the money grabbing monster that is International Business Machines. Its interesting that Linus brings them up, as they are the epitome of big bad business in a way that Microsoft can only have wet dreams about.
Actually, IBM donates more than money ... they have donated code. Vast amounts of it. Probably more so than anyone else. See the above comment about "change their corporate behaviour. Turn it around completely". This is an excellent example of exactly that turn-around.
Remember the B in IBM. Where they donate code it is only to ditch unmarketable internal code to boost their open source credentials or to kick a rival (eg Eclipse vs Netbeans). Linux is 'tolerated' only to the expense of SPARC/Solaris at IBM, when the shoe is on the other foot and AIX starts losing share to Linux watch the stance change.
RE[2]: Embrace Extend Extinguish - age difference
by jabbotts on Fri 24th Jul 2009 14:11
in reply to "RE: Embrace Extend Extinguish"
Member since:2007-09-06
IBM did unspeakable things in the past. The cloned BIOS was a response to the desktop monopoly they held. Affordable IBM pricing only came after true competition with them in the general software market.
I see two differences though, IBM was knocked out of the top position and has since aged. They promote FOSS solutions and directly provide service contracts for multiple OS including FOSS platforms. They also contribute a huge amount of code along with being a member of the FOSS patent guild (whatever the exact name of that is). IBM's abuse of the market and consumer is mostly in the past unless there is some ongoing predatory practice I've not heard about; and if there is, I want to hear about it.
IBM, like any inherently amoral big business, should be considered with healthy skepticism.
On the other hand, MS abuses of the market are very recent and predatory practices seem to be ongoing. They are still basing marketing campaigns on attacking FOSS in general and Linux specifically. If they demonstrate and ongoing history of promoting and supporting FOSS either as a business service or through code submission and patent agreements and similar good-will participation. As it stands now, the history remains too recent to be comparing them to IBM though MS could also manage to outlast there own negative history.
Edited 2009-07-24 14:12 UTC
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.More News »
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Member since:
2005-09-27
Microsoft has a long history of very dirty business tactics
True, but there is another one who has done worse thinks and nobody say anything, yes, im talking about IBM.
But since IBM donates money to the FSF nobody dares to say anything.