sucker_muts - Slashdot User

Submission + - Microsoft 'deprecates' features of MSOOXML for ISO

Submitted by

sucker_muts

on Friday December 28, 2007 @09:51AM

sucker_muts writes: "Microsoft seems to be working to resolve all those comments about its OOXML format to get it approved by ISO, and they claim they nearly adressed 2/3 of them. But even with all the updates they are making to the format, lots of elements still remain to lock people to their platform and software of choice. Instead of removing or changing features, they simply deprecate them. This way Office 2007 will be able to read ISO MSOOXML files, but won't be able to save documents in that format.
From the article:
In an effort to win quick converts to its bid to have Microsoft Office Open XML (MOOXML) accepted as an ISO standard, Microsoft is deprecating parts of its widely-criticized MOOXML. But whatever the new Microsoft OOXML file format with deprecated parts will eventually look like (if such a format ever appears in an actual application), these cosmetic changes dont really make a difference for Microsoft or the world. Neither Microsoft Office 2007 or the version after that will ever likely produce a standards-compliant format. Besides, OpenDocument has been around now for a few years and is becoming widely supported in industry. However, there has been no meaningful movement from MS towards support. Actions speak louder than words."

Submission + - Interview with Linus Torvalds

Submitted by sucker_muts on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @11:35AM

sucker_muts writes: It seems to have been a while, but there's an new interesting interview with Linus Torvalds. Covering important topics like what he thinks about gpl v3, Microsoft in general and the niches of linux. He considers the desktop to be the best place for developement since it has varied and complex usages, compared to servers and embedded devices.
But is Linus still doing it 'just for fun'? His words: "Yes. Its still why I do it. The parts I do that end up beign fun have been different over the years — it used to be purely about the coding, these days I dont write all that much code myself, and now its mostly about the organizational side: merging code, communicating with people, pointing people in the right direction, and then the occasional bugfixing myself."

Submission + - F/LOSS ruins the software landscape?

Submitted by sucker_muts on Monday July 16, 2007 @05:04PM

sucker_muts writes: Rob Enderle is at it again with an 'insightful' article about how F/LOSS is ruining the software business, and he even mentions the informationweek Linus vs FSF story calling them hypocrites, which has already been busted as FUD.

Submission + - IM & P2P Malware Packs Bigger Punch

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @03:23PM

An anonymous reader writes: From Earthtimes.org: FaceTime Communications announced its analysis of malware affecting today's enterprise networks through instant messaging, P2P file sharing, and chat applications. In an analysis of threats tracked or identified by FaceTime Security Labs, 1,224 unique threats on greynet applications were reported in the past year, with attacks over peer-to-peer networks increasing by 140 percent over 2005 and multi-channel attacks increasing from 18 percent in 2005 to 29 percent of all attacks in 2006. "The numbers alone don't tell the story," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research at FaceTime Security Labs. "It is more important to understand that, although major network disruptions don't seem to result from malware attacks propagated via IM, the sophistication, complexity and stealthy behavior of these threats make them far more dangerous. "Despite myriad security technologies employed by enterprise IT managers to block malicious attacks, the user is often the biggest vulnerability, especially on the real-time, socially-networked Web" said Frank Cabri, vice president of marketing for FaceTime Communications. "In 2007, the biggest security risk for organizations is likely to be their own users, as employees install consumer-oriented greynet applications onto their workplace computer faster than the IT team can keep up with the corresponding controls."

Bookmark Linux.com | Linux Standard Base plans cross-format package API (linux.com)

by mbrinkm on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @02:59PM

Submission + - MySpace to offer spyware for parents

Submitted by mrspin on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @02:56PM

mrspin writes: Following continuing pressure from politicians (and parts of the media), MySpace is planning to offer parents the chance to download software which will monitor aspects of their children's activities on the social networking site. From a business point of view, the move appears to be a highly risky one. The young users of social networking sites are notorious for their lack of loyalty — and history suggests that a change like this could tempt many to abandon MySpace for the 'next cool thing'.

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