simonfairfax - Slashdot User

How Microsoft Beat Linux In China 313

Posted by kdawson on Saturday July 28, 2007 @04:30PM from the always-did-know-the-value-of-being-the-standard dept.

kripkenstein notes an analysis up on TechRepublic detailing how Microsoft beat Linux in China, and the consequences of that victory: "With the soon-to-be largest economy standardized on Windows desktops, desktop Linux does seem to have an uphill battle ahead of it." "Linux has turned out to be little more than a key bargaining chip in a high stakes game of commerce between the Chinese government and the world's largest software maker... The fact that... Linux failed to gain a major foothold in China is yet another blow to desktop Linux. After nearly eight years of being on the verge of a breakthrough, Linux seems more destined than ever to be a force in the server room but little more than a narrow niche and an anomaly on the desktop."

Submission + - MPs outlaw satire in New Zealand

Submitted by

mernil

on Saturday July 28, 2007 @03:32PM

mernil writes: "New Zealand's Parliament has voted itself far-reaching powers to control satire and ridicule of MPs in Parliament, attracting a storm of media and academic criticism. The new standing orders, voted in last month, concern the use of images of Parliamentary debates, and make it a contempt of Parliament for broadcasters or anyone else to use footage of the chamber for "satire, ridicule or denigration"."

Torvalds Explains Scheduler Decision 411

Posted by kdawson on Saturday July 28, 2007 @03:24PM from the it's-the-guy-not-the-code dept.

Firedog writes "There's been a lot of recent debate over why Linus Torvalds chose the new CFS process scheduler written by Ingo Molnar over the SD process scheduler written by Con Kolivas, ranging from discussing the quality of the code to favoritism and outright conspiracy theories. KernelTrap is now reporting Linus Torvalds' official stance as to why he chose the code that he did. 'People who think SD was "perfect" were simply ignoring reality,' Linus is quoted as saying. He goes on to explain that he selected the Completely Fair Scheduler because it had a maintainer who has proven himself willing and able to address problems as they are discovered. In the end, the relevance to normal Linux users is twofold: one is the question as to whether or not the Linux development model is working, and the other is the question as to whether the recently released 2.6.23 kernel will deliver an improved desktop experience."

Submission + - RIAA Directed to Pay $68,685.23 in Attorneys Fees

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Monday July 16, 2007 @08:08PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "In Capitol v. Foster, in Oklahoma, the RIAA has been directed to pay the defendant $68,685.23 in attorneys fees. This is the first instance of which I am aware of the RIAA being ordered to pay the defendant attorneys fees. The judge in this case has previously criticized the RIAA's lawyers' motives as "questionable", and their legal theories as "marginal" (pdf). Although the judge had previously ordered the RIAA to turn over its own attorneys billing records, today's decision (pdf) made no mention of that the RIAA had spent in paying its own lawyers."

Comment Re:Bigger man than I (Score 1) 591

by simonfairfax on Friday July 21, 2006 @01:21PM (#15758218) Attached to: Paul Thurrott Bitten by WGA

Do you even know what WGA is? It is a technology that Microsoft uses to make sure that you actually own the license for the copy of windows you are using. Linux will never get WGA, because you don't need to buy it, and because its license gives you privileges instead of taking them away. Individual distros may incorporate WGA-like solutions, but linux as a whole will always be Free and Open Source.

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