Copying, content and communism (Bill Gates on Who is a Communist

BBC ^ | Bill Thompson

[HAL9000]

As far as China is concerned, Windows IS open-source software. Microsoft started giving their top-secret source code to China's Communist government years ago. It shows that Bill Gates would sell his mother or betray his country to make a buck.

Now let's check the latest news from the country you claim does not have a Communist economy -

Joint venture cigarette factories ruled out

   BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- China will not allow the establishment of new cigarette factories including foreign-funded ones, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) insisted Wednesday.

    Speaking at a press conference, administration spokesman Xing Wanli said "the country's current cigarette manufacturing capacity exceeds market demands, and the establishment of new cigarette factories will not be approved."

    Xing's statement comes as especially bad news for British American Tobacco (BAT), according to Thursday's China Daily.

    The global cigarette giant is currently lobbying local governments around China, trying to persuade them to approve the establishment of a joint venture company in China.

    BAT even claimed last July that the Chinese government had approved the establishment of an 800-million-pound joint venture in the country. But this was strongly denied by the STMA.

    Xing added that foreign firms will not be allowed into the nation's cigarette distribution sector either.

    As cigarettes are classified as a special product, the industrywill continue to employ the monopoly system and cigarette sales will continue to be monopolized by the China Tobacco Co, added Xing.

[DaveMSmith]

I've been in the industry for 25 years. 20 as a programmer.

From a technical standpoint, Microsoft has implemented a totaltarian regime. They maintain absolute control. I've done quite a bit of programming in their environments and it IS frustrating. One can spend their career waiting for the next release.

Open Source is a free market of ideas. Anyone and everyone is free to contribute. The resulting products are more feature rich and robust. The competition of ideas and excellance has lead to the most secure systems available today.

The business model is different between the two. Microsoft requires you to upgrade hardware and software regularly for them to remain profitable. Open Source gives you choice: there are still many Linux 486 servers out there on the internet. If all you see is a US Corporation under 'attack', consider at this point Microsoft probably has more staff lawyers and accountants then programmers on staff in the US at the point. Gates is a democrat and he runs his company like one.

Don't forget: FreeRepublic runs on perl - a language that has always been and always will be Open Source.

[KwasiOwusu]

"As far as China is concerned, Windows IS open-source software. Microsoft started giving their top-secret source code to China's Communist government years ago."

Give it up will you?
Microsoft also SHOWED the Windows source code to the German, Indian, British, French governments and more.
Does that make Windows open source in Britain?
Funny thing is Microsoft started off all this by showing Windows source code to the American government.
So Windows is now open source in America too is it?

You are not thinking things through here.

[HAL9000]

Give it up will you?

I'm just getting started.

[KwasiOwusu]

"It shows that Bill Gates would sell his mother or betray his country to make a buck"

Come on.
You are getting hysterical.
First of all Bill Gates's mother is dead (may God rest her soul).
And second of all Bill Gates really deeply loved his mother more than most people I know.

# 3, Gates has given more money to charity than any man in history, already, with even more to come (he already promised to give most of his money to charity).
If he is busy giving vast sums away, why would he then sell his mother for the same money again?

# 4 , of course is that Microsoft has already showed their source code to the governments of many countries including the US government, in part to allay security fears about "secret Windows back doors".
That is NOT the same as selling Windows source code to anybody.

Your points are getting weaker by the minute.

[KwasiOwusu]

"I'm just getting started"

If you call your pathetic performance so far "getting started", you don't really have anywhere to go but down.

[HAL9000]

# 4 , of course is that Microsoft has already showed their source code to the governments of many countries including the US government, in part to allay security fears about "secret Windows back doors".

China has an active electronic warfare program against us, and many Windows exploits have been traced back to China since Microsoft gave them the source code. Microsoft has compromised the national security of the United States and made the world more unsafe for everyone. It is the height of irresponsibility.

Microsoft also registered and activated server software for the Taliban regime, in direct violation of U.S. law.

If Hitler was around today, Microsoft would be selling their wares to him too.

[sevry]

Seems to me that open source philosophy is just another contender in the free market.

A lot more than that. When people aren't doing it for the money, necessarily (or maybe just for the fame), as in academia, 'open source' is how things are done. People around the world contribute to the science. It's the nerdly way.

Micro$oft has benefitted greatly from such worldwide open academic research. It's a tasteless, clueless, socially irresponsible mega-corporation, at this point. There would be no 'medical ethicist' employed there to raise the hand and wag the finger and say - hold on a minute. No, instead, this childish behemoth would attempt to claim for itself, and its own distribution, virtually everything published now, and importantly in the past. They would, eventually, attempt to destroy libraries, as libraries themselves out of misguided PC have attempted to do themselves. They would outlaw publishing thousand year old documents as proprietary 'intellectual property' of Micro$oft. The brave new world of Communist tyranny is not found in 'open source', but in megalithic corporations run by egomaniacs who admit no social responsibilty and no check on their unquenchable lust for power.

If you think that's overstated, if you think that slippery slope simply doesn't even exist - try to look ahead, and think again. I think it's a truth seemingly much less credible than fiction. That's how truth is. But consider that artwork hundreds and hundreds of years old is suppposedly considered the 'intellectual property', today, of that museum which claims ownership, as I understand the law. How much further behind can all other published materials down through history be if Micro$oft gets its 'band of lawyers' on the chase? If they don't like the Magna Carta, people will never hear it mentioned again. A particular version of the Bible? Micro$oft no like? Every known copy burned and that version locked away from people forever afterward, save for the brave subversive souls who secret away their copies and meet with others in the underground to study the text. Hopefully, as Micro$oft tries to play Big Brother, I won't be around to see it. Or hopefully, wiser heads will prevail against them. Maybe the free marketplace will have the last laugh on this for-rofit corporation. To say the least, they scare me. I'm beginning to wish there were no Micro$oft corporation.

[ovrtaxt]

Maybe the free marketplace will have the last laugh on this for-rofit corporation.

It always does, one way or another. It was only a matter of time before Firefox came around. Next on the list is a replacement for Windows itself, which is compatible with existing software.

The market will eventually figure out how to do it.

Ultimately, it will be good for Microsoft too.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

I note that a lot of software is prohibited from export by us common civilians yet indeed Gates licensed ChiCom with munitions-level stuff. Scary and very interesting in the One World Order scenarios and in considering Gog/Magog of the Book of Revelation.

Much of the Gates Foundation grants has gone to left-leaning stuff including pro-abortion causes. Much of MS's antitrust settlements have been paid "in kind" using published, obsolete software. As re: the foundation, I am on a deadline/all-nighter but opensecrets.org or freshmeat.org should be a good source to verify this.

[HAL9000]

The only good things I can say about Bill Gates is that he has made a lot of people wealthy, and he's been generous in donating research dollars to combat malaria - the most deadly disease in Africa.

But overall, he's done more harm than good.

[Bon mots]

[Golden Eagle]

What a bunch of losers. Look at this article from the UK:

"Bill Gates may find it's better to be red than dead".

http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020505,39183282,00.htm

[KwasiOwusu]

"China has an active electronic warfare program against us, and many Windows exploits have been traced back to China since Microsoft gave them the source code. Microsoft has compromised the national security of the United States and made the world more unsafe for everyone. It is the height of irresponsibility. "

You keep getting more hysterical by the minute don't you?
You gotta quit foaming at the mouth and start talking some sense for a change.

# 1, more Windows exploits have been carried out in the United States bt far more than any exploits from China.
Its not even close.

# 2, Windows source code was given to a very very select, very high level' very responsible members of the Chinese government.
Its not been handed over to Chinese hackers.
Please show me some Windows exploits carried out by the members of the Chinese government with access to Microsoft source code will you?

# 3, Microsoft source code has very little to do with American national security.
Knowing the sot=rce code of Microsoft Office or Windows is not the way for the Chinese or anyone else to win a war against the United States..
Meanwhile anyone (including malicious hackers and outlaw countries like Iran) have free access to the open source code like Linux .
I think you should be more worried about open source ceode than Microsoft source code shown to foreign governments under the tightest security and conditions.

# 4, Microsoft is far more responsible than most firms on the planet.
Even the anti-Amerivcan Financial Times has Microsoft ranked as either the most or the next most admired company on the planet.

"Microsoft also registered and activated server software for the Taliban regime, in direct violation of U.S. law. "

LMAO!
Excuse me while I laugh, will you?
The Taliban also used Toyota pickups to mount their machine guns on (so go sue Toyota), Mercedes cars for their top officials (sue Mrcedes too ), PC's with Intel and AMD processors in them, lots of Macs (sure CRAPPLE LOL) etc etc.
Anyone can buy a PC with Windows installed anywhere they want.
Heck I sent lots of Windows PC's to Africa in the past 10 years alone that I bought in Europe.
The American government was the biggest donor of aid to the Taliban> Windows PC's were probably included in some of the aid to hospitals and schools.

You gotta do better than that.

"If Hitler was around today, Microsoft would be selling their wares to him too"


Oh boy.
Now you have completely flipped.
How do I put it delicately? You are not normal.
Your statements keep getting more bizarre by the minute.
Are you sure you are not on something?
You sure sounding more insane with every statement you make.

[KwasiOwusu]

"'open source' is how things are done. People around the world contribute to the science. It's the nerdly way. "

Rubbish.
Where is the open source car?
Open source plane?
Even open source garbage truck.
Its not not the "nerdly way".
Its the communist way.
We say that in the Soviet Union before. They ended up collapsing like a heap.


"Micro$oft has benefited greatly from such worldwide open academic research"


#, Microsoft spends more on R & D than nearly every corporation in America.
Overwhelmingly, Microsoft's products are developed in house, costing Microsoft nearly $6 Billion a year for R & D.
If anything, universities are the ones that have benefited greatly from Microsoft's money.

"It's a tasteless, clueless, socially irresponsible mega-corporation, at this point. "

It not Microsoft who is clueless. After all they are the biggest or second biggest corporation in America by market cap.
Plus Microsoft is more socially responsible than over 90% of US corporations, doing more for Charity by far than most forms.
fnything its YOU that is clueless and incredibly stupid for making such a dumb statement.
How old are you anyway? 5?!

"The brave new world of Communist tyranny is not found in 'open source'"

No.
The brave new world of Communist tyranny IS found in 'open source'.


"To say the least, they scare me. I'm beginning to wish there were no Micro$oft corporation."

I am beginning to think you are insane.
And you probably are.

[KwasiOwusu]

"I note that a lot of software is prohibited from export by us common civilians yet indeed Gates licensed ChiCom with munitions-level stuff"

"Gates licensed ChiCom with munitions-level stuff"? LMAO!!
Hey, whatever you are smoking, get off it. Quick!
Its messed with your mind. LOL!
The moment you think Windows source and Microsoft Office is "munitions-level stuff", then its time to call in the men with the long white coats.

[KwasiOwusu]

"Scary and very interesting in the One World Order scenarios and in considering Gog/Magog of the Book of Revelation. "

You need a new shrink, dude.
You are the one who is really scary, not Microsoft.
Do you see ghosts and spirits at night too?

[TechJunkYard]

The brave new world of Communist tyranny is not found in 'open source', but in megalithic corporations run by egomaniacs who admit no social responsibilty and no check on their unquenchable lust for power.

Right on.

This nation was built by free people who wanted to do their own thing, free from the bonds and restrictions imposed on them by the King and Church of England. The Open Source community's philosophy and background is very similar.... notwithstanding the fact that a few pirates have attempted to pervert OSS for their own gain.

How some otherwise-right-thinking people can equate this to communism is beyond me.

[Protagoras]

If these bottom feeders ever got their way, nothing of importance would ever be created again.

He is a commie, btw.

[KwasiOwusu]

"The only good things I can say about Bill Gates is that he has made a lot of people wealthy, and he's been generous in donating research dollars to combat malaria - the most deadly disease in Africa.
But overall, he's done more harm than good"

Most of this country, and most of Africa and even most of Asia, especially India and China think Bill Gates is great.
Does what some frustrated, Gates-hating little worm on a bulletin board says, matter? Heck no.