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Comment Sea Change (Score 1) 535

I ditched Microsoft software and solutions over a decade ago when an update they sent me wouldn't apply because the installer detected a OS/2 and Linux partition on my hard drive (which at the time I was a consultant needing to program solutions for all three platforms). Wait, what? I paid for your product and you won't update it because I make a living supporting alternate products? Go fuck yourself.

This is Sea Change moment for Linux. In the early 90's I watched IBM going from 80 percent market share down to 20/30 share. People stopped buying IBM and Microsoft was the winner of IBM's loss. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/20/business/ibm-posts-5.46-billion-loss-for-4th-quarter-1992-s-deficit-biggest-us-business.html This was due to IBM pushing MCA/PS2 etc. on a open market to reel in more profits. Yes, I was in a meeting for a fortune 500 company where the comptroller said, fuck IBM, were going Microsoft.

The Linux foundation along with RedHat, SuSE, Ubuntu need to get together (pool resources) and fix the minor issues still inhibiting total Linux adoption. Grandmothers want to easily show slideshows of the grand kids on their screen savers. Accountants want to use Quickbooks. Graphic designers want to use PhotoShop etc.

We haven't had hardware issues for years (in my experience). It's the little things that will prevent Linux adoption.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Windows 7 printing worse than Linux and XP

Journal by NullProg

Hey Microsoft, I can install 76 updates in Linux under 10 minutes, including a new kernel. I'm not waiting two hours to install the 76 updates the computer already downloaded in the background. I powered down after update #2 took over twenty minutes to install. Life is too short. I expect the Windows 7 installation on my desktop is hosed now.

My ten year old canon ink jet died. I replaced it with a Samsung laser.
Linux

Submission + - Need Windows for a job application 4

Submitted by NullProg
NullProg writes: In this economy, any job opportunity is welcomed. My Wife tried to fill out a on-line form using her KUbuntu box with firefox 3 and received a browser warning Your browser does not meet the minimum requirements for this site. . The web site: https://xpresshr.online-onboarding.com/KMS/Applicant.aspx?Account=NYCB apparently hasn't heard of Linux or Android. I've changed her user-agent in firefox but I believe I should not have to. How do other Android/Linux slashdot users deal with these Web Sites?

Submission + - Incandescents use less energy, CFLs an elaborate c (express.co.uk) 2

Submitted by bluefoxlucid
bluefoxlucid writes: From the article, "BANNING the humble 60-watt light bulb to make way for so-called energy-saving ones and 'help save the planet' was last night exposed as an elaborate EU con." What justification could the have for such accusations? "The carbon footprint of manufacturing, distribution and disposal of a compact fluorescent bulb is far greater than the energy usage of a standard bulb." Imagine that. Complex electronics and mercury tubes are harder to make than an evacuated glass bulb with a wire in it; and reclaiming hazardous waste takes more energy than just chucking a harmless glass bulb in the standard recycling bin.

Comment Re:Not Sco at all (Score 4, Informative) 174

by NullProg (#36726004) Attached to: Why No War Over MS's Android Patent Shakedown?

In this case, careful review by a number of hardware makers has led them to pay Microsoft to license the patents. We may not know exactly what they are using but you can bet the companies paying Microsoft had to have pretty good proof before they simply handed over per-device fees to another company.

I doubt that. All the companies that have licensed the patents for their Android devices also ship Windows devices. More than likely Microsoft threatened them over Windows pricing if they didn't agree to the patents. See the monopoly trial transcripts on Microsoft's use of predatory pricing tactics.

The one Android using company that didn't license the patents also doesn't ship any Windows versions. According to Barnes and Noble the patents are weak. See

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/04/28/039255/BampN-Responds-To-Microsofts-Android-Suit

Food for thought,
Enjoy.

Comment Re:Everything is an INCOMPATIBLE object (Score 1) 317

by NullProg (#36184386) Attached to: Imagining the CLI For the Modern Machine
Despite what you may think, sometimes Redmond actually can innovate, and do it well.

Trouble is Redmond didn't innovate. Powershell is a weak copy of IBM OS/2 Workplace Shell / System Object Model (SOM).

See here: http://www.warpspeed.com.au/cgi-bin/inf2html.cmd?..%5Chtml%5Cbook%5CToolkt40%5CWPSGUIDE.INFl

Enjoy,
Windows

Submission + - Windows on verge of dropping below 90% OS share (networkworld.com) 1

Submitted by jbrodkin
jbrodkin writes: Windows is on the verge of dropping below 90% market share, with smartphones and tablets posing an increasingly serious threat to Microsoft's dominance of the operating system market. Data from Net Applications — which lumps mobile and desktop operating systems into one statistic — show that Windows market share dropped from 93.74% in February 2009 to 90.29% in December 2010. "The operating system usage market share trend line points to Windows' overall usage falling below 90% sometime during 2011," says Vince Vizzaccaro, executive vice president of marketing and strategic alliances for Net Applications. "It could be as early as next month." Although Windows-based PC shipments are growing, the data points to the fact that the rest of the OS market, driven by mobile devices, is getting bigger and Microsoft isn't capitalizing on the growth. More and more users are accessing the Internet on devices that don't run Windows. Another analyst predicts that "By 2013, greater than 67% of browsers accessing the Internet will be on non-PC devices. Internet Explorer will ultimately become a minor player in the browser market."

Comment I'm getting tired of this.... (Score 2, Interesting) 402

by NullProg (#34119094) Attached to: Net Neutrality Supporters Hammered In Elections

Network Neutrality was lost the day they/we allowed E911 calls over the internet. The network neutrality folks would argue that P2P traffic has the same priority over 911 VOIP packets. They don't.

I'm using Verizon as a sample because thats what I currently have (Replace Verizon with whatever ISP you have). Should Verizon discriminate packets between a streaming video NetFlix user and an FiOS on-demand video user on their network? No. If I was the NetFlix customer I would file a consumer complaint. Should Verizon discriminate between me watching on-demand and the NetFlix user watching a streaming video while the P2P Verizon user downloads Debbie Does Dallas from Russia at the same time? Yes, if it interferes with the paid for transmissions. Both I and the NetFlix user paid extra (State/local Taxes, Fees, etc.) for the priveledge of watching an un-interrupted streaming video.

In the USA, this isn't a Federal issue its a local issue. Its a grass roots effort that requires you to go down to the local zoning/franchise board in your community. Get the Franchise ISP's to sign a some sort of customer Bill of Rights. If they violate it, then they loose the franchise. The community gets to vote for a new ISP.

We, the USA internet users, need to craft this Bill of Rights for our ISP's. Not, congress, not the president, and especially not the courts. Make the internet Bill of Rights a GPL/ANSI/ISO/FSF etc. standard. How do we do this? I don't know. Maybe usenet, IRC, etc. Maybe each local ISP block needs to send two users to a internet forum to discuss, debate, and ratify. Then those users take it back to the ISP users for a vote. That's how the US constitution was formed. Its how democracy works.

Food for thought,
Enjoy,

Comment Hey Microsoft, here is a cloud seed for you... (Score 4, Insightful) 212

by NullProg (#34069728) Attached to: Microsoft's Silverlight Strategy 'Has Shifted'

The 5 primary Desktop computers in my home run Linux. I purchase services (annual subscriptions in Microsoft speak) from the NFL/MLB/HBO and several others. They all work with Linux. They all work with my Windows Netbook, Wii, MacBook, and Linux Laptop. The producers know the product they produce is viewable with Linux and several other OS's. They get my subscription fees while Microsoft doesn't. Check it out, I'm not tied to any platform.

        Cross platform does not mean Windows XP/Vista/CE/7 only. Cloud services does not mean Windows XP with IE 99 or Windows 7 with IE 8.5. Cross platform and cloud services mean Droid, Windows, Linux, Mac, Blackberry, iPhone, HP, Wii, PS3 or any other platform that is standards compliant.

Come out with a .Net runtime with Silverlight that runs native on Multiple non-Microsoft platforms. And no, Mono sucks and is full of traps.

My rant.
Enjoy

Submission + - 500 Doe Lawsuits Dismissed - Must File Separately

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In what could be a very bad precedent for the US Copyright Group, a Judge overseeing the First Time Videos vs. John Does 1-500 has dismissed the case with prejudice. The judge dismissed the case and warned the Plaintiffs that each lawsuit must be filed individually — striking a blow against at least against the porn BitTorrent lawsuits, and perhaps crippling the US Copyright Group.

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