If you read the article. it's a senior member of the government proposing the legislation.

Android runs Dalvik. It's a clean-room partial implementation but uses a different architecture. Perhaps, theoretically, it's vulnerable to the same problem but Android doesn't include applet nor java web start functionality.

As for developing using the JDK, don't install the public JRE. The 64bit version is safer since, last time I checked, browsers for 64bit Windows are still 32bit and hence the plugin won't work!

It at least seems moderated.

They could filter the urban dictionary results by anything tagged 'vulgar' on wiktionary. Thereby censoring Watson's potty-mouth...

That was a different Anonymous Coward :)

'enemy' in the sense of being a rival platform that uses a non-standard C library and graphics stack that make dalvik somewhat non-portable to other platforms.

The distros mentioned in the summary are also based on the Linux kernel but feature a more traditional GNU userland and Qt graphics stack.

STK is a fun game even if it doesn't meet the realism of commercially developed titles.

They switched to a new graphics engine a while back, so adding realistic skidding might be on the roadmap.

Supposing RT does indeed include the full Win32 API to support Office, for many FLOSS applications it's theoretically as simple as a recompile.

e.g. when I evaluated a simple text editor that would work on both Linux and Windows, with easy installation, I chose geany (sorry emacs/vi users!) The code is cpu and OS agnostic, so there would be minimal porting to ARM Win32 provided the code for Windows didn't contain too many x86-isms.

The summary seemed Linux-centric - BB10 is Qt's best chance of achieving mass penetration in mobile devices.

Yes I know that QNX ain't Linux and BB10 ain't free software but sometimes the enemy of my enemy (WP8, iOS, Android) is my friend...

Haha. I never did grok command line scripting. But it's heartening I can learn more in a Slashdot discussion than in a 300 page 'Ubuntu for laypeople' paperback. :)

Did RMS ever say "Don't use Android"? Rather, the FSF has specific caveats such as:

1. "tivoisation" that RMS mentions above. Buying a phone with a locked bootloader restricts your ability to load your own kernel. Not providing a developer mode to load custom firmware or run utilities than require root also restricts freedom.
2. There's the f-droid repository for free software apps.
3. They have a campaign to write a driver for PowerVR GPUs (see also freedreno, lima)
4. Replicant is their Android distro, with the goal of removing the non-free blobs by writing replacement drivers.
5. Using a free software SDK - as mentioned on Slashdot recently regarding a license change.

RMS, imho, is more pragmatic than you credit him.

version control.

With everything electronic these days, I doubt it's as much as an issue as when other countries made the switch:

A car's locale can be set to display gallons & miles or litres & km.
The pump can be toggled on a per customer basis to display metric - much in the way that vending machines and ATMs have language selection.
With electronic billing, receipts can be easily modified to display multiple units.
Electronic signs can alternate between displaying per gallon/litre.

Yes, I'm fine with a tablet 'cover' that doubles as a keyboard and trackpad solution.

Hybrids are the technology for 2013. Witness this week's CES for examples. Some rotate the screen like the Lenovo twist, some flip like the Dell XPS Convertible, some detach like the Hp Envy. Then there's the Surface Pro, as you mentioned. These things are in Ultrabook territory but prices will come down as the novelty of a touchscreen laptop becomes the norm.

But by x86 binaries I mean legacy win32 stuff that won't run on ARM linux. e.g. my government's tax software. Can an iPad run that?

By 'half-assed x86 apps for tablets' I'm sure you're aware that Android-x86 runs on Intel, as does KDE Plasma Active and probably without too much tweaking webOS and Firefox OS.

If, as MS promises, the firmware for x86 devices isn't locked down for Windows-only, you can triple boot to your heart's content. On an ARM based system, you're at the mercy of a manufacturer that ships Android-only kernel blobs.

With netbooks declared dead during the week, so dies Windows 7 Starter with them.

The market here is the $400 Windows 8 Tablet, allowing Intel to compete with Win RT but allowing OEMs to produce high-end Core i7 convertibles at triple the price.

Runs all your x86 binaries.

By MS' own definition, uefi will support other os options (not guaranteed under ARM).

Has mature, supported foss GPU drivers unlike every android-only ARM SoC.

THE platform for that budget linux tablet that dual boots into MS Office?