IntuitivelyObvious - Slashdot User

Charity Shuns Open Source Code 115

Posted by kdawson on Thursday November 09, 2006 @12:25PM

brown-eyed slug writes, "The BBC has an article explaining Christian Aid's decision to use Microsoft software in preference to Linux. It re-opens the classic debate about the total cost of ownership, highlighting the wider availability of Microsoft skills, as well as the beneficial pricing policy of the Seattle giant. From the article: '...one of the things that we find is that Microsoft is viewed as the big, bad organization — but they've actually got some good corporate social responsibility. If you're a charity or an educational institution, you pay pence in the pound for the license, compared to what a major bank might pay.'" While the Christian Aid spokesman makes some good points, he seems to miss totally the idea of open code — confusing code with data.

E.U. Preps for Fight over Passenger Data 51

Posted by timothy on Thursday October 12, 2006 @12:16PM from the honestly-what's-the-[redacted]-that-could-happen? dept.

narramissic writes "Following last week's signing of a new temporary agreement to pass over airline passenger data to American authorities last week, European Union parliamentarians are gearing up for a fight over data privacy. Sylvia Kaufmann, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), commented that 'The fact that the CIA, an agency whose activities, torturing and kidnapping, this house is investigating in a special committee, will have access to passenger data is the real scandal, especially when one considers that the right of redress held by U.S. citizens is not extended to E.U. citizens.'"

Indian State Encourages Microsoft Removal 298

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday August 30, 2006 @03:27AM from the another-12,500-bites-the-dust dept.

cultrhetor writes "The New York Times reports that the communist government in the Indian state of Kerala is trying to remove Microsoft from its public institutions, as part of a campaign against monopolistic corporations. From the article: 'schools and public offices across the state are being encouraged to install free software systems instead of purchasing Microsoft's Windows programs. "It is well-known that Microsoft wants to have a monopoly in the field of computer technology. Naturally, being a democratic and progressive government, we want to encourage the spread of free software," M. A. Baby, the state's education minister, said by telephone.' The government is not banning Microsoft, but it is actively encouraging all 12,500 public schools in the state to install Linux."

Comment FUD from another perspective (Score 2, Insightful) 571

by IntuitivelyObvious on Tuesday May 04, 2004 @01:14PM (#9053158) Attached to: Microsoft Assembles Patent Arsenal for Longhorn

Is it just me, or is this article spreading the same FUD that we have come to expect from the pro-Microsoft side? It is one thing to dislike Longhorn because of its DRM, but quite a stretch to believe that Microsoft will patent every common computing process used in Longhorn.

Unlike what most here probably believe, patents are not the problem. Microsoft will not be able to patent Linux out of existence.

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